Healer
by BetweenheavenandHell
Summary: Trying to leave herself behind, Sakura accidentally stumbles across the reason she feels dead inside. Wounded and alone she is Sasuke's only hope. She can heal him, but who could heal her?
1. Prologue: Defining the thin line

**Healer **

Prologue: Defining the thin line

Was she dead?

It might have been easy for the casual onlooker to assume that. Sitting unmoving, even in the cold night air, the pink haired girl seemed to possess all the vitality of a corpse, only the slow rise and fall of her chest would let a keen eyed observe know that physically at least, she was fine.

Emotionally….

At that moment a strong gust of wind probably could have toppled her.

Sakura Haruno's head lolled back listlessly, coming to a painful halt against the rock that provided her support. The unexpected blow brought her out of her own mind and back to the world around her. Sakura blinked mint green eyes in surprise seeing the stars overhead, hands instinctively forming the seals required to activate the medical jutsu that would alleviate the minor throbbing she now felt.

Nearly three years of training under one of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade, had brought out her talents. Her near perfect chakra control at an early age had meant she learned the medical jutsus almost as fast as the learning technique developed by her sensei would have allowed in someone less talented.

She could heal almost anything…almost.

Sakura's fist clenched involuntarily at her side and she reluctantly thought back on all that had brought her to this point…

* * *

Sakura was alone, but that was good. Being alone allowed you to let your mind drift, free and uncaring. It also meant you didn't have to focus on the things, or more accurately, the people around you.

A brief image of an over enthusiastic, loud mouthed blond flashed through her mind but she stomped it down viciously.

**_Jerk_**, the inner Sakura growled at the fading image, fist shaking furiously as the outer Sakura tried her best to ignore her own commentary. That would just lead her back into the cycle of depression she had been lucky enough to escape from twice. She had no desire to tempt fate with a third trip.

She let herself drift free of her body, almost as if she were delving a patient to find out what ailed them, but in this case she was escaping her own body rather than entering another.

Tsunade had warned her against doing this, sternly warned, but the young medical chunin couldn't see what possible harm there was as long as she remembered not to let herself loose track of the path back to her body. She was a careful, sensible person by nature. It was what suited her to her current profession after all.

As she left her physical self further and further behind, the feel of the sun on her skin, the gentle sensation of the breeze tousled grass tickling the back of her neck where she lay, all of it began to fade.

Had she possessed a face in this form she would have frowned. The pink haired girl delicately altered the flow of Chakra, feeling the impulses of her body stabilise. They weren't as strong as when she was actually in her body, but they were constant again.

Tsunade's dire warning about using the delving technique in this fashion, over a range it was never meant to be employed came back to her young student.

The inner Sakura ranted about bossy old women while the outer began to wonder if she should stop trying to push her range today. This was only an experiment after all ultimately, a study that would allow medical nin to locate patients on a battlefield from a secure location rather that running around risking death before they could find those in need of their talents. If it worked it would probably be something she became famous for, as even with the fifth's renovations past and present, there simply weren't enough combat proficient medical nin for one to accompany every team.

Sakura allowed her mind to continue probing the specifics of her new technique, analysing her success so far, the amount of Chakra required and so on. It would be no good if this technique used up all of her Chakra in locating the patient, leaving her unable to help them in the end.

The idea had come to her after sitting in on a number of Tsunade's briefings and meetings, following a training session with Ino. The blonde's ability to project her mind into others had given her the initial idea, her own training enabling her to create the mental anchor that overcame the weakness in Ino's jutsu, and with each trial she had been able to project herself a little further.

It was a great success.

**_Liar _**

Sakura jerked, feeling herself being tugged back into her own mind by her scratch-lined alter-ego. Perhaps she should delve herself one day, no normal person should have two distinctive personalities that could communicate.

Perhaps it was some sort of anomaly in the Chakra circulatory system in her mind that had isolated part of her mental energy, leading to a mutation of sorts if Chakra could do that alone.

**_Quit stalling_**, her inner self scolded, folding it's arms in front of it and glaring down at her.

_What do you want?_, Sakura asked, her thoughts feeling sluggish after her recent expenditure of mental energy.

**_I just can't stand it when you lie, coward_**, the inner Sakura all but spat, **_You didn't develop this to help anyone but yourself, it's an escape_**.

Sakura was silent.

Eventually she heard the sigh of her inner self and sensed its dismissive wave.

**_Fine, if you've already given up even I can't change your mind_**.

Sakura waited until she was sure that there would be no more shouts or tirades before beginning the set up for the _projection_ jutsu again.

Her mind began to leak outward as she worked the seals without opening her eyes, ranging further and further from her corporeal form until the final seal was finished, cutting her off from her motor functions and leaving gravity to assist her hands to their rest.

She once again marvelled at the world she now saw, a plane entirely made of energy, invisible to the physical senses except in extreme circumstances when it gathered in sufficient quantities to interfere with the refraction of light in a localised area.

Words could not describe the flowing and ebbing mists that took place of their material counterparts in her new 'eyes'.

She allowed a weak current to pull her along like a leaf in the wind, carefully testing the strength of her mental anchor. She was not a member of Ino's clan, if she lost contact with her mind, her mental Chakra would **not **return naturally.

It was strange thinking in this form, her thoughts could become manifest in this plane she had learned, sometimes seeming almost independent of herself.

As soon as she had thought of Ino, the image of the blond had appeared along side her, frowning at her in concern, the lightly tanned arm she knew belonged to the Nara's heir, Shikamaru, also visible in the image as it mouthed words of concern that could not reach her here, as she had now ears to hear them, nor was there air to transmit the vocal vibrations.

The image continued to play out, showing the independence that both annoyed and intrigued the pink haired girl.

It changed, evolving into the scene from a few hours ago, the one that had prompted her latest round of solitary experimentation.

Her mind filled in the words she couldn't hear as the scene unfolded.

_

* * *

--- Sakura stretched weary limbs as she walked out the Konoha's hospital. Another long night shift meant that at twelve in the afternoon she was only just going home for a well deserved nap before her lessons later that day with Tsunade._

_She yawned and rubbed at her eyes as shuffling feet took her on the shortest path her mind could think of short of leaping rooftops, back to her home._

"_Hey forehead girl!", a familiar shout somehow had her cursing, glaring and smiling all at once. It was a response that only two people could provoke, and she hadn't really heard much from the other walking blond annoyance for reasons she didn't particularly want to think about at that moment._

"_Ino-pig", she responded, these days it was tradition rather than malice which brought forth such insults between girls who had long since mended their friendship after…_

_Sakura sighed, that was another thing she didn't want to be reminded about._

_Ino frowned at the pained expression the other girl wasn't aware she had just shown her, absently playing with Shikamaru's hand as she was prone to do when worried._

_The shadow user in question rubbed his temple, knowing how bothersome it was going to be when someone, and there _would_ be someone, reported this habit to Temari, the beauty of the sand and Ino's rival for his grudging affections._

_He wondered why he had let her talk him into coming out with her that day._

_Once again the genius was annoyed to find that when it came to Ino and Temari, he still held no ready answer._

"_You ok?", Ino asked quietly_

"_Just tired", Sakura answered more of less truthfully. She had also been having the dreams again._

_The night a certain hate blinded genin had left his town and friends behind._

"_Sasuke", Ino guessed, smiling sympathetically as Sakura looked away, "…He could still come back, Naruto might succeed next time"._

_That had been the wrong name to mention. Ino knew it as soon as she saw the way her friend trembled before bringing herself back under control._

_Ino was one of the few people who knew what had happened between Naruto and Sakura about a week ago, the results had shocked her even as those who didn't know what had happened in the background had congratulated the former prankster before he left to resume his training with his master; Jiraiya and the old Sannin's new student._

_Shikamaru didn't comment when Ino drew his arm around her. He had long since figured out what was causing the current tension, so he knew what had Ino suddenly feeling clingy._

_Still, this was going to be troublesome, he just knew it. He was pretty sure he had seen Akamaru in the distance, and anything he saw Kiba did. The other young man was a worse gossip than Ino at times._

_As Ino reached out to squeeze Sakura's hand, the shadow user was already running through a number of ways to handle Temari._

_The outcome was rather bleak, but there was time yet._

"_I'm sorry Sakura-chan", the blond whispered, "I didn't mean to-"_

"_It's ok", Sakura said with a smile so fake it prevented comment, "I have to go, I have more lessons in a little while and things to do before then"._

_Ino watched silently as the pink haired girl shuffled off up the street, she felt the urge to hug Shikamaru tightly when she heard what Sakura murmured to herself, perhaps not aware what she was doing._

_"Sasuke-kun…".---_

* * *

Sakura glared as best she was able at the shimmering image of the dark haired Uciha heir as it stared back at her with dark, cold eyes.

Sasuke had left her and the village to pursue vengeance.

Perhaps she could have dealt with it if she had been able to think of him solely as a traitor, but he had said his goodbye to her personally, even if he had never intended to do so.

_---"Thank you"---_

He had said that before knocking her out, thanking her for her concern and affection in a way that implied hope of his return and perhaps reciprocation.

And because of that she had continued to ignore Naruto's attentions until…

She managed to dispel that memory before it could form, and turned back to the image of Sasuke, a scathing curse ready on her lips, but what she saw brought her short.

The image she had in her mind had been changed. Sasuke had not worn his hair so long when she had last seen him. Nor had it been collected in a hasty ponytail at the nap of his neck. He had preferred arm warmers in place of the bandages that now covered his arms and the high collared top had been replaced with black muscle vest and tan chunnin jacket.

The images face was contorted in pain, drenched in sweat and blood and his eyes looked close to feverish.

But most distinctive, were the black tattoo like marks that even now were receding from his body back into the three part mark now hidden by his hair.

_The cursed seal_.

That simple thought brought her out of her sense of wonder, seeing how the boy she had had a crush on had changed and matured.

It had been that thing which had started him on the path to becoming declared a traitor and an S-class criminal, turning the hatred and bitterness in his lonely soul into the power he had so craved as a child.

Slowly it dawned on her what she was seeing.

Her technique was a success, she had located an injured man. A wanted man. The big question was, what did she do now?

Sasuke's image turned glassy onyx eyes on her, his face changing from one of pain, to confusion as his eyes looked around as if searching for an unseen watcher.

"Sakura?".

Sakura retreated instantly, having no idea if she could be detected like this, and not having any desire to find out first hand what Sasuke's powers could do to her in this plane, or what he was inclined to do to her after all these years under Orachimaru's supervision.

The pink haired girl gasped as she returned to her body, panting as if she had been running for miles, hands clasping her throbbing head tightly as she rolled to her knees, the memory of her discovery kicking in the release of adrenaline now that she was fully integrated with her body again.

She fumbled at her hip pouch for some powerful aspirin, downing the pill dry with a grimace as she massaged her aching temples.

Perhaps she had been pushing to hard to fast, but if she hadn't…

Sakura looked up, somehow aware of Sasuke's location in this world even though she had found him in another plan of existence. It was a good thing that this seemed to happen of a by product of her technique, if she had required anything else she may have well not have found him.

As it was she was torn.

He was injured, so she was honour bound as a Medical nin to find him and offer aid.

He was also a wanted criminal, and it was her duty as a shinobi of Konoha village to bring him back if possible.

On the other hand he held easily enough power to destroy her, maybe even in his injured state.

Should she go get back up first?

Do you want to? 

That question almost put her back on the ground as she shakily stood. It was true that part of her was more eager to find him than she would have expected after all this time, but that didn't mean she was willing to betray the village to see him again, helping him escape punishment…right?

Then again if she wasted time and his injuries killed him…

Sakura glanced back in the direction of the village, just a speck in the distance, why had she come out this far?

Because I wanted to be away from everyone, I didn't know at the time that would backfire.

Sakura dithered a moment longer before she made her choice.

_I'm coming Sasuke._

* * *

Sasuke was drained.

Even with the cursed seal at his beck and call, now that he had learned to overcome the thing's detrimental effects on his sanity even if its output still sometimes overwhelmed him. Even with that, he had nothing left, he was emotionally spent as well as lacking enough Chakra to twitch, and the seal relied on his emotions, converting hatred into power, thus in his current apathetic state it was just an interesting pattern on his neck.

Why was he drained?

He managed a weak grin to himself.

It had all been worth it, now he could die without regrets…well, with one less.

The world came in and out of focus. It seemed like seconds, but the drastic change in the position of the sun suggested otherwise.

He was loosing track of time, he had begun hallucinating at times.

He wondered why he had seen _her_ instead of the death god, or those souls who awaited him in the afterlife.

There was a rustling. He held his breath. He had hoped to simply pass in his sleep, his body to weak to support him, but it seemed life was not done with him yet.

Torn to pieces by wild animals was not the way he would have like to go, but with his three years almost up, at least it assured no one else would be using his body when he was gone.

The rustling came again, this time closer.

He tried to flex his fingers, urging his body to pick up the kurai that lay only inches from his hand, but muscles that seemed to be a liquid mix of pain and lead refused to obey.

There would be no going down fighting for him, no death with dignity.

He sneered as the thing came closer to the clearing in which he lay. He would not let this thing intimidate him after all he had faced and endured.

His sneer gave way to surprise as his stalker cleared the last of the foliage, leaves tangled in her almost waist length pink hair.

She was still garbed in the red dress and shorts he remembered but that was the only way she was the same.

Sakura Haruno had grown a lot since his days on team seven.

Team seven, that brought the reality of his predicament crashing down around his ears, he was prostrate and unable to defend himself before a shinobi of Konoha.

This was Sakura though, he was reasonably sure she wouldn't kill him on the spot unless she had changed a lot since he had last seen her. She was too gentle, too kind.

He looked up at her mint green eyes, vague memories of those same orbs looking at him shyly from above a light blush stirred, only to be quelled when he finally met them.

There was no anger, no hate, no betrayal, unease, but there was also none of the shy affection he remembered, or the concern she had shown when he had been healed by Tsunade after his brother's attack.

There was nothing.

He didn't know it, but that concerned both of them more than his wounds.

* * *

---Author Notes---

This is my first foray into Naruto fanfiction, and admittedly has a slightly angsty edge that will continue throughout. R and R

Coming up: Chapter 1: Superficial; Sakura begins her work, but why doesn't she speak? And why is Sasuke so bothered when she says his name?

Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell


	2. Chapter 1: Superficial

Chapter One: Superficial

Sakura felt an odd sensation building in her gut as she drew closer to where she knew Sasuke lay.

It wasn't quiet dread, or anticipation. Sickness, disgust, fear, none of these things seemed to fit it either.

It just was.

The pink haired Chuunin pushed aside the strange churning, it didn't really have any baring on her current mission, and it was distracting her, bringing her close a few times to becoming disorientated and loosing Sasuke's trail.

_Psychosomatic_, she wondered, her extensive medical knowledge providing a possible explanation.

Could it be part of her didn't want to find Sasuke? If there was it never succeeded.

She cleared the last of the underbrush, picking irritably at leaves that had somehow clung to her hair as she had made her way there. It wasn't exactly a dignified entrance for a matured shinobi but that hardly mattered under the circumstances. Sasuke would most likely be unconscious if he had half the injuries she suspected, and if he wasn't….

Sakura's eyes fell on the fallen traitor, battered and bloody, sweating more than the moderate spring heat warranted, he was looking back at her with slightly widened eyes, as close to surprise as she could recall him expressing.

It was also probably the most he had reacted to her in the time she had known him, excluding a few times she had discounted over the years for various reasons. It should have caused something stirring even now surely, a twinge of excitement or vindication.

There was nothing.

She stared at him, waiting for a blush to colour her cheeks as she inspected his finely toned muscles, or for her stomach to flop when she noticed him inspecting her body, but not likely for the same reason.

Still nothing.

She waited for the fact that the team-mate come traitor was at her mercy, ready to be brought to justice any way she saw fit to fill her with a sense of responsibility, perhaps a little sorrow, or empathic compassion.

Nothing.

They continued to stare at each other, eventually Sasuke's surprise seemed to fade and his face resumed the impassive observation of her that she had once thought so dignified, so cool. It was the same expression she was unconsciously mimicking, the one that had him frowning below the surface.

"Sakura", he said coolly, exerting more energy than should be necessary to nod curtly in her direction, trying to give the air that he was lying there because he desired to, not because he couldn't move. Years with the Sound had reinforced his beliefs about showing weakness.

"Sasuke", she said with a dryness that shocked them both.

The young Uchiha heir hadn't exactly wanted her to go fangirl on him like the old days, but this demeanour was unexpected from any medical specialist, especially Sakura, even if he was supposed to be a traitor. He glanced at her then back at himself, raising an enquiring eyebrow.

"Oh, don't get up on my account", she spoke again, her voice almost lacking inflection, making the comment almost scathing rather than joking.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes dangerously but she didn't seem impressed as she knelt at his side, hands a blur as she began a series of seals he wasn't familiar with. When she was done she held her hand above forehead and began sweeping it downward slowly.

Sakura felt like a stranger in her own body as she talked to her former crush in short, almost callous words. She would have understood if she had felt anything like hate or resentment toward him, but all she could sense inside herself was that disturbing emptiness.

She cleared her mind as she began delving him, wincing at the data that flowed back to her along the pulses of Chakra she released into his body.

There was little of him that wasn't damaged.

Muscles had been ripped, tendons snapped, bones shattered. By some miracle there were no fatal internal ruptures, and those that existed she could seal with minimal effort. What did concern her were the burns, not just those visible on his skin, but those she could sense inside his body.

_Just how much Chakra was he channelling from that thing?_, she thought, purposely avoiding the seal on his neck. She had no idea what would happen if she delved something like that, and didn't want to find out first hand. With the damage he had wrought on his Chakra circulatory system he would be lucky to survive the night without immediate and prolonged treatment.

Sakura sat back on her hunches, scanning the area.

This clearing wouldn't do, but luckily she had found the somewhat damaged remains of an old cabin on her way here, perhaps one of Kiba's Clan's old homesteads. That should work just fine as long as she could heal him enough to make sure moving him wouldn't kill him first.

Green light shrouded her hands as she lightly pressed them over the most troublesome areas, gently infusing his damaged body with healing energy, buoying his own reserves and systems just enough to ensure transport wouldn't kill him, but not enough for him to move under his own power. She was practical, not stupid.

Inner Sakura tried to get her attention, unnerved by her sudden lack of compassion. She knew better than anyone how much it must be hurting Sasuke not to be able to even stand under his own power.

Sakura trembled a little as she lifted him up, draping his arm over her should to support her.

Once again, even with the sudden proximity, or the oddly intense look the raven haired boy was giving her failed to elicit anything like her former responses.

Without even a word to check whether he was comfortable, she took off.

_What's wrong with me?_

* * *

The Uchiha heir bit back a creative curse as the first of his fellow shinobi's leaps jostled seemingly every injury he had accumulated.

He actually felt a little better, whatever she had done it was so smooth and well practiced his body had barely noticed the presence of foreign Chakra as the healing energies suffused through his system, reducing his tiredness, easing his breathing and reducing the pain enough for him to be able to concentrate more effectively, to plan.

Sakura hadn't fully healed him, that would imply that his injuries required greater attention that she was willing to give in such an exposed area.

Either that or she had only patched him up enough to see that he lived until she could hand him over.

He mentally shuck his head. She wasn't that devious, or rather she hadn't been.

Sasuke was forced to acknowledge that if she had changed he was doomed. A short trial and an even shorter sentence awaited in Konoha.

He dismissed various escape plans even as the surfaced. He wasn't interested in getting away, and even should he change his mind, he wasn't going anywhere in this condition.

At that moment he probably couldn't have worked a fire technique strong enough to light a candle, let alone the more powerful jutsu's that would be needed to disable her if she took exception to his leaving this time, and something told him she would.

Hey let out an involuntary cry as she landed hard on a low hanging branch, not quite catching her weight properly.

She glanced over at him in a cursory fashion.

Sasuke glared back defiantly at the pink haired girl who just looked away unapologetically seeing that he wasn't suffering any greater damage from the landing, and braced himself as she leapt again.

Another series jumps over the course of an hour finally brought them to the medical nin's destination.

The rotting wooden structure had seen better days, but there were no obvious holes and what little of it he could see in the setting sun didn't look like it would fall if the breeze got too strong.

Sasuke breathed a little easier. It looked like his first guess had been correct. Sakura was taking him to a secure location to work on his injuries. That didn't mean he was home free, she could still leave him to go get an ANBU squad or three to escort him back.

Sakura shifted his weight on her shoulders as they approached the structure, sparing him a glance he couldn't interpret before kicking the door open with a single swift move.

The inside wasn't in much better shape than the outside of the building. Dusty and run down, most of the remaining furniture in the cabin's single room was in pieces. The only standing piece was through some twist of fate, a wide bed, covered in moth eaten sheets.

Sakura moved over to the wall, propping Sasuke up near the door while she wrestled it back upright with amazing ease for one so slight.

Another trait she shared with her teacher.

The former door acting like a crude shutter she left her patient in his resting spot while she investigated the bed.

The covers were dusty but otherwise clean, but hardly the sanitary conditions she would have liked.

Tsking to herself irritably, she took them and threw them into a pile to be dealt with later as she continued her investigation.

There was a small table and chair remaining intact, and her brief overview of the room turned up a small wood burner in the corner opposite the bed.

Sakura crouched down, opening the heavy iron cover and peering inside. There was enough wood to warm the cabin for a few hours or so should they need it and a few more pieces stacked in a small pile next to a rather primitive stove on the far wall.

_First thing's first_

Returning to where she had left the raven-haired boy she hefted him back to his feet, lugging him over to the bed and lowering him carefully onto the bed, swinging his feet into place, smiling a little at the flash of annoyance his invalid status provoked in the proud man.

"Comfy?", she said, fighting the urge to laugh as he gave her a look that might have sent others running in fear.

Part of her was enjoying this more than she should, Sakura knew that but she couldn't really bring herself to a stop. Without this banter she wouldn't have anything left to focus on but the numbing feeling threatening to engulf her.

She ran a critical eye over her patient. There were no new injuries, or any signs that the patch job she had done on his internal injuries had ripped.

She nodded in satisfaction, almost missing his shiver, quickly suppressed.

"Cold?", she asked, her voice carrying a small note of concern, the first emotion she had expressed toward him so far.

He refused to look at her. His pride no doubt preventing him from admitting that he to could succumb to something as mundane as the elements, even in this state.

Sakura tested the air.

It wasn't exactly cold, but neither as it warm, and it would only get colder this time of year as the sun continued to set.

In his condition it wasn't wise to push his body unnecessarily.

Sakura stepped over to the wood burner, fumbling around in her hip pouch for a moment to locate the steel and flint all shinobi carried as basic equipment.

After a number of attempts she managed to light a small fire, poking at it until there was a healthy blaze going within the burner, leaking warmth into the small room at a steady pace.

Sakura hugged her knees in front of the fire, staring into the leaping flames as the surreal nature of what she was doing began to filter in.

She was alone in a remote cabin with one of Konoha's most wanted criminals, the traitor progeny, Sasuke Uchiha and her former love interest since her early childhood, the only person for miles capable of healing his injuries.

She shook herself mentally and physically as she stood, turning back to the task in hand.

Sasuke glared at her retreating form as she moved over to the small wood burner.

It had been a long time since anyone had dared to tease him, and he wasn't sure how to deal with it, especially not from a girl who had simpered around him along with all the others before he had left the leaf.

In a way it was…intriguing…

_No, that's not the right word it's just…_

Sasuke growled at his inability to explain why Sakura's actions had been bugging him since she had found him.

She stood, framed in the firelight due to the minimal light the cabin's dirty windows allowed in.

Sasuke felt his eyes lingering longer than they should have on his former team-mate before turning away.

He listened as the floorboards creaked with her approach.

There was a scrapping noise as she dragged something next to him, most likely the chair he had seen and sat down, her hands planting themselves lightly on his chest as a warm sensation began to fill him.

"Do you want to talk about something"

Her voice turned his head, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

"It helps me concentrate for some reason", she explained, her eyes on her hands as they traced small patterns over his chest, the lines of his Chakra system.

He looked away with a small snort.

"You never were very talkative I guess", she said quietly.

Sasuke felt a small pang of guilt. This was his first conversation with a team seven member since his battle with Naruto, and the pair's rivalry had helped him ignore what he was doing even if it had ultimately prevented him killing the blond.

However, with Sakura his last talk with her magnified the feeling to uncomfortable levels.

---_"Thank you"_---

Why had he said that? He still wasn't sure why he had thanked her for showing the strange obsession that had so annoyed him in other girls, including herself as best he remembered.

Still the fact remained it had comforted him somehow, actually made the choice easier for some reason.

It wouldn't kill him to repay that by playing along.

_Anything that heals me faster_, he reasoned.

"What do you want to know", he said, gazing at he and Sakura's shadows on the wall.

He couldn't see the way the pink haired girl's surprised eyes flickered up to his face before turning back to her task.

There were a thousand and one questions, each one seeming to vanish as she tried to grasp it, leaving only one.

"What…what have you been doing?", Inner Sakura slapped her forehead.

_**Nearly three years and that's the best you can come up with?**_

"…Getting stronger", he paused and Sakura had to hold back the urge to sigh. She shouldn't have expected better.

"Oh…", she frowned as she lost track of her work for a moment, halting her Chakra flow until she located where she had been and continued to explore the damaged system, mapping out various blockages by pouring her own power though the metaphysical pathways.

"I suppose that's good…you can finally complete your mission".

Sasuke seemed to squirm uncomfortably for a moment, and she cut back her ministrations, afraid she might have triggered something in a moment of inattention.

"Sasuke?", he frowned deeply, "Sasuke, if something hurts, you need to-"

"He's dead", he said, and both were silent for a moment.

"…Who is dead?", she asked, feeling a morbid curiosity even as the most likely answer sprung to mind.

_He couldn't mean _him_…could he?_

"Itachi…", Sasuke said taking a deep breath, his eyes flickering her face, "Itachi is dead…I killed him".

Sakura withdrew her powers, trying to catch his gaze again but he was avoiding her face again.

"…How?", she asked after an indeterminable period of silence.

Sasuke glanced at her again, "The power of the seal. Once I understood it I began to train with it, mastering the power it gave me".

Sakura's brow wrinkled in disgust. How could anyone abide using the kind of power that came from something like that, no matter the reason.

"You don't believe me?", he asked, mistaking her expression in the dim light.

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, bracing himself for the pain he knew was to come trying to do this in his current state.

"Sharingan!", his eyes snapped open again, but now gone were the black orbs that usually gazed out at the world from his face, and in their place were read irises. Red irises with…

"Three", Sakura breathed, counting the number of black dots now visible in the Sharingan user's eyes.

Sasuke managed to avoid gasping as pain racked his body, his ravaged Chakra system objecting to the power he was trying to use, releasing the Sharingan before he did more damage.

The look on the medic's face showed she knew what this meant. The full power of the Sharingan could only be accomplished by killing someone important to you. Itachi's death had granted him that power.

The sole remaining Uchiha shuddered lightly as he remembered his brother's dying words, watching the third mark appear in his red eyes.

_---"Your hatred of me has made you as strong as I has hoped. You are now the perfect weapon my little brother"_---

"You really did it, you became powerful enough to kill him"

"Orachimaru was an excellent teacher", that statement had her glaring at him angrily but he carried on regardless, "Insane as he was I owe him my thanks at least".

Sakura withdrew her hands, she couldn't believe he was praising the criminal who had killed the third and wanted to raise Konoha, Sasuke's home, her home, to the ground.

"At what do you plan to do now?", she spat angrily, her body trembling. Catching sight of the Sound village forehead guard he wore on his brow, glinting in the firelight she felt her fists clenching so hard the knuckles turned white.

His answer took her by surprise.

"I don't know…", the admission was so frank, so out of place coming from one of the two most driven men she knew that her rage momentarily vanished.

"I…was, an avenger…", he spoke slowly, as if discussing something new to him, "I'm just happy that my family can rest in piece…I had never thought what I would do after that was accomplished".

"Oh", she said, an unexpected wave of depression settling over her.

That answered her last unvoiced question. Sasuke had never planned to return to her, no matter how much she might have wanted to think that's what his last words had meant.

"So there is nothing else now?"

He continued to stare at their shadows on the wall.

Sakura's head dropped, pink bangs hiding tear filled eyes.

_What am I doing. I didn't even feel excited to find him, so why am I so upset that he didn't plan to come back to me after all this time_.

Sakura swayed in her chair, gasping a little as the world blurred for a second, a strange numbness spreading through her limbs.

"Sakura?", as quick as it happened it was gone. She looked up to find Sasuke staring at her questioningly.

_Is that concern Sasuke? Or are you just worried I might not be able to heal you if something is wrong with me._

* * *

Sasuke tried to ignore her latest question, the only answer he had came in the form of a repeating flashback that made no sense.

_---"Thank you"---_

The strange feeling that had given him more conviction than the thought of gaining the strength to kill his brother was back, and it still made no sense to him.

It flared when Sakura had mentioned the future with that hidden note of expectation, and now it refused to fade.

His train of thought was broken when he heard her gasp, his head snapping round, eyes alert for danger, not that he would be any help against it in his current condition.

"Sakura?", her head came up as he called her name, mint eyes looking around as if wondering where she was for a moment before settling on his face.

"I'm ok", she said, re-working the seals to activate her healing technique and returning to her ministrations as if nothing had happened.

It didn't fool him. Even in the dim light he could see the unshed tears in her eyes.

_She always was a cry baby_, he thought, shocked by the fondness in that thought as he remembered her reactions to his various injuries and close calls in the past.

Needing to distract himself he asked the first thing that came to mind.

"What about you Sakura?"

"What?", she asked as if surprised to hear his voice.

"I can see you became a medial nin…I suppose that makes sense, you always had the best control".

She nodded, "Yes, I trained under Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san, in fact I missed my lesson coming out here to find you".

"So that means they will be waiting for you to return", the only person waiting for him would be Orachimaru, and he was more than happy to disappoint the body swapping bastard.

Perhaps some good would come of this after all. If he was arrested then the snake master couldn't perform the ritual's final step.

"Yes…they'll be the only ones though", Sasuke looked down at her as she said that, but her bangs once more hid her face from him.

He felt as strange compulsion to understand what she meant by that, "Why do you say that? I would have thought there would be…someone, else waiting".

_Why did I ask something like that?_

Sakura stiffened where she sat but didn't answer.

"The dumbass at least would be upset if you went missing", Sasuke said quietly, watching for her reaction.

He yelped in pain as the light surrounding her hands flared for a moment, pouring more power into his system than it could currently handle.

"Sorry!", she said, quickly correcting the flow and checking she hadn't accidentally done more harm than good.

Sakura bit her lip. That had been a foolish overreaction to a statement Sasuke couldn't possibly know the implications of.

"I'm sorry Sasuke", she said, missing his frown.

_Why does it bother me when she speaks my name?_

"Naruto…Naruto doesn't…", she scolded herself when she felt tears building again, gritting her teeth she pushed on.

"Naruto isn't interested in me anymore", bile built in the back of her throat and she almost missed a blockage as a fresh wave of grief flooded her mind.

Sasuke was silent, he knew that now was not the time to ask questions.

"When you left, I spent that first year completely isolated in my studies, I had lost a…friend", she cursed her inability to state it more clearly, "I couldn't let anyone get close to me, even though Naruto tried at first, before he was taken away by Jiraiya-sama to train".

She deftly cleared the obstruction, and began working her way to the others.

"During the second year they came back every few months or so, and he would always spend almost all of his free time with me, trying to cheer me up with his stupid jokes and pranks", she laughed half-heartedly remembering one such prank that had left Tsunade's hair bright blue in hue, "Ino used to joke that we were almost dating the amount of time we spent together".

Sasuke frowned again without realising, but she didn't see.

"Perhaps that's what finally gave her the nerve…When the third year rolled around and she confessed to him…I…I got…jealous. I realised how much I had liked all that attention and affection, how much it…how much Naruto had begun to mean to me", she felt her jaw clench, "It was a strange time, I found myself competing against another girl for of all people, Naruto's attention. That was almost as strange as my 'rival'. For such a timid girl, Hinata was determined to win, even though I was sure she didn't stand a chance… She won. She deserved it I suppose, all of us knew how long she had pined after him".

She felt a tear tracing a path down her cheek.

"I lost another person dear to me…so to answer your question, no. There is no one else waiting for me back in Konoha".

When Sasuke didn't respond she dared to peak at him from around her bangs, wondering what level of contempt he would be eying her with.

Sasuke wasn't looking at her with contempt. He wasn't looking at her at all.

His eyes were rolling wildly and his body was convulsing beneath her hands.

Sakura's training kicked in even as her mind froze, delving into him, she found the problem. She had opened one of the blockages to early while she was distracted, and the resultant surge had nowhere to go but straight to his brain.

The medical specialist worked frantically, a hasty application of Chakra resealing the bl;ockage even as she began draining the damaging energy away from his brain.

Abruptly his convulsions ceased.

Everything ceased. Sasuke drew in one rattling breath and went limp.

_No_

Sakura moved her fingers to his neck.

No pulse.

_No, please, no!_

"Sasuke? Sasuke!".

Sakura ran down her list of options. She wasn't skilled enough to attempt to jump start his functions with Chakra, so that only really left one option.

CPR.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, her mind drifted back to the time she had almost drown during their mission to protect Idate Morino, the runner and former ninja.

Lying on the beech, she had thought Sasuke was preparing to give her mouth to mouth to revive her and had decided to fake unconsciousness to prevent him from stopping.

Of course that had almost backfired on her, bringing her dangerously close to being kissed by Naruto instead, something she would actually want to happen later in her life but never get.

She roughly crushed such opportunistic thoughts, ashamed that she could think that way with another person's life on the line.

Tilting his head back to clear his airway, Sakura took a deep breath and pressed her lips to her former team-mate's before she could chicken out.

Her stomach fluttered and pleasant shivers ran up and down her spine, causing her to gasp out rather than blow out the life giving air into Sasuke's lungs.

The numbing void she had felt previously around the dark haired boy shuddered in time with her suddenly pounding heart, almost threatening to crack.

She released her lip-lock, pressing down hard on his chest five times and placing her ear next to his mouth.

An odd mix of relief and disappointment filled her when she heard him gasp, his breathing returning to normal after a few shallow gasps.

A quick check showed a strong, steady pulse.

Standing, Sakura staggered away from him on shaky limbs, not even stopping to check if he was awake or not as she removed the barricade from the entrance way and stumbled outside, dropping down next to a large rock and leaning against it as if it were the only life raft in a violent storm.

Sakura's mind rambled at her, vague, disjointed thoughts about leaving the healing of his Chakra system to be completed by Tsunade, as the image of her lips on Sasuke's, and the echo of what she had felt replayed over the top of it all.

_What…What was that?_, she wondered, panting as if out of breath, her eyes glazed.

She had thought herself over the boy when she hadn't felt even a spark upon seeing him again in the clearing, but that…

Did this mean…did it mean she still held some feeling s for the traitor? Buried after all these years so deep she couldn't consciously get in touch with them anymore. Surfacing only when she had been forced to...

The memory of the kiss surfaced again, and she felt her cheeks reddening.

Her head dropped forward, her hands coming to her face.

It was true then, she still held feelings for him after all this time. Feelings for a traitor she was duty bound to bring back to stand trial for his crimes.

Sakura's hands hit the dirt with muffled thuds, her blush, her feelings of exhilaration crashing down.

_Traitor_.

Yes, Sasuke was still a traitor regardless; he was still going to pay for his crimes.

She was going to loose him again…

The numbing feeling returned as her body began to fade away.

Yes, that would be easier; she would escape to that world of mists, and try to leave the pain behind…

* * *

Sakura stood, her stiff joints protesting.

There had been no escape there, in that realm only she had probably ever seen, the images had followed, tormenting her, and now back in her body, the void awaited, numbing her soul.

She couldn't even summon the strength to cry as she shuffled back to the cabin, skin fridged from the cold night air.

The inside of the cabin was dark, only the faint glow of the burner remained.

Sakura shivered violently, clutching at her arms as her legs carried her toward the warmth she needed.

Not the burner, almost dead now. She was too tired to re-stoke it.

No, she kept moving until her shins banged against the edge of the bed in which Sasuke lay, light snores showing that he was still unconscious.

Even as her mind began to question it, her body moved of its own accord, lying next to him, hands gripping his vest as she pulled her shivering body as close to him as she could, trying to escape the numbing chill of the void.

The sensation seemed to retreat a little, as if wary of Sasuke's presence.

Sakura sobbed.

This wasn't a happy moment. If only Sasuke could drive away the emptiness that had become so strong without her noticing until now, and he would be gone again for good soon…

Sakura cried herself to sleep.

* * *

---Author Notes---

Hey folks, this will be the last chapter without reviews, so help me out here

Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell


	3. Chapter 2: Below the Surface

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews and support so far guys, it means a lot.

Chapter Two: Below the Surface

Consciousness faded in slowly, a tangled mess of memory and fantasy blurring across Sakura's mind as she made the reluctant transition from asleep to awake.

Still at the blissful stage where the mind hasn't updated itself with where you are and why, the pink haired girl sighed and snuggled closer to the warm body behind her, feeling safe in its embrace.

Slowly things began to filter in.

The stale smell of the air, the chirping of the birds and other woodland noises that shouldn't have been as clear as they were, all at odds with what she expected to find, hear and smell when she awoke.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open, attempting to regulate the amount of light that overwhelmed her maladapted eyes with controlled exposure.

Gradually the world around her came into focus.

Her eyes fell on the bare single small room in which she found herself, tracing the lazy lines the dust mote created as the danced in the sunlight that managed to force its way through dust encrusted windows.

_This isn't my room_, she thought, sudden disorientation driving her close to panic before the resultant adrenaline rush could awaken her enough for the memory of how she had found herself in her current position to permeate her consciousness.

_I found Sasuke… he was injured and I brought him here and…,_ Sakura was bombarded with a series of second hand thought's and emotions which obliterated the last of her sense of sleepy bliss.

The void yawned, stretching out in search of her.

Instinctively she cowered against the thing she lay against, hands tugging at the arms folded around her.

The medical nin's eyes tracked down, hardly daring to believe what she saw.

Part of her had wondered if the memory of climbing into bed next to Sasuke while he slept was only a dream.

The bandage-clad arms holding her would seem to forego that conclusion.

Sakura's face discovered an interesting new shade of red as she rolled over wordlessly, coming face to chest with a sleeping Sasuke.

Her face somehow managed to colour even deeper as she peeked up from beneath her eyelashes, at the almost feminine features of the Uchiha heir.

_This isn't right, I need to move before he wakes up_.

Sakura could easily picture a shocked an offended Sasuke forcing her away from him while berating her boldness.

Despite this she didn't move.

_What are you doing, move…move now!_

Her body had apparently gone on strike without telling her first.

**_You're going nowhere honey_**, the inner Sakura said around a stifled laugh, **_Can't break free of something you don't want to_**.

Sakura mentally sent a baleful glare at her alter-ego as said figment laughed heartily at her expense.

The pink haired girl stole another quick look at Sasuke's sleeping face, confirming he was indeed unconscious for the foreseeable future.

Sakura sighed happily in spite of herself. This might be the first and last chance she had to do this.

It wouldn't hurt to stay like this a little longer.

* * *

Sasuke's awakening was a little less pleasant. 

In his dreams, his bruised and battered form was being chased through endless dark corriodrs by a laughing Orachimaru as the snake master taunted him, telling Sasuke not to damage his new body too much.

Suddenly Sakura had appeared, her arms stretched out and a shy smile on her face.

"_Sasuke-kun_"

He opened his mouth but no sound came out.

A dark, serpentine shadow slithered from the darkness behind the pink haired shinobi, an inhumanly wide grin on the pale face that emerged from its darkened maw.

Sauke tried to grab one of the kurai he kept in the pouch at his side but his hands fumbled the weapon and it fell away into the nothingness beneath him.

The snake master opened his mouth, the long blade of the mystical sword the Sannin had at his beck and call emerging instead of his impossibly long tongue, shining even in the absence of any external light.

He froze as the blade swept down toward the unsuspecting girl.

"_Sakura!_"

He woke with a strangled cry, his arms clutching at empty air.

Sasuke lay there panting for a moment, his arms convulsively trying to hug at something that was no longer there.

A cold sweat covered his aching body as he stared at the twitching appendages, trying to shake the impression that they were somehow lighter than they should be.

She breathed deeply to calm himself, an odd scent tickling his nose.

His brow wrinkled as he inhaled again. This strange smell did not belong in the musty old cabin he was sheltering in.

It was at once familiar yet infuriatingly implacable.

His hand traced a lingering pattern of warmth that wasn't big enough to be his own, the source of this scent.

Before he could investigate further a new smell brought itself to his attention. It was accompanied by quiet bubbling that his stomach seemed to recognise before he did.

He strained his head to look at the stove, spotting Sakura standing over the ancient iron construct.

She was stirring something in an equally old looking pot, pausing every now and again to scoop some of the contents into a small saucer and tasting it.

Sasuke couldn't help but notice with some concern that she grimaced a little swallowing the contents of the saucer.

The pink haired girl considered the tiny bag next to her, picking out a few herbs and crushing them into the contents of the pot.

She took another tentative sip and this time didn't grimace…well, not as much anyway.

She carefully took the pot off the heat using a scrap of cloth most likely torn from the old bed sheets.

"Oh", she said, her smile catching him off guard, "Sasuke, you're awake, and just in time".

She moved swiftly to the small table in the centre of the room, pouring out a measure of the pot's contents into one of the two wooden bowls waiting there, and the rest into another.

"I made breakfast", she said with a cheeriness that sounded false to his trained ear, "It's only a fish stew, but I was lucky to find a stream nearby. There isn't much game in these woods, well nothing that I could catch quickly anyway. I've set a few traps so we might have something better for dinner".

Sasuke blinked at the pink haired girl's sudden talkativeness, overwhelmed as always by someone capable of uttering more than two or three sentences at a time.

"I see", he tried to sit as she approached, by only managed to wedge himself up on one elbow before his muscles cramped in protest of there continued mistreatment.

"Sasuke", she hurried to his side, putting the bowl on the chair and assisting him into a sitting position.

"I don't need help", he ground out, his pride kicking in and taking affront at being helped sit like some sort of invalid.

Sakura didn't even look at him until she was done, making sure he would slump over the moment she let go.

"There we go", she said with another smile as if he hadn't even spoken and Sasuke felt a small unexplained smile tugging at his lips as she turned away, taking up the bowl of stew again so that she could sit down next to the bed.

She blew on the steaming contents and began to raise it to his lips.

"I will feed myself", he said with an air of finality, fighting trembling muscles to reach out for the bowl.

Sakura held it away from his shaking hands, clearly resisting the urge to glare sternly at him.

Sasuke however didn't resist the urge.

"I haven't had chance to heal your muscular damage yet", she explained, placing a hand on his and lowering them both, "So shouldn't strain yourself anymore than necessary".

Sasuke nodded reluctantly. Sakura was the medical expert here, not him.

"Fine", he said, her mention of healing chasing up a hazy memory of what he remembered before he had passed out the previous night.

"Sakura, what happened last night".

Sakura let out a startled squeak.

"W-what do you mean?", she asked, suddenly not meeting his gaze.

"What made me pass out?", he clarified, perplexed by her reaction. Had she made a mistake of some sort she was trying to hide?

"You better eat this before it goes cold", she said avoiding the question, "You need to keep your strength up".

Sasuke didn't object again as she raised the bowl to his lips, allowing a little of the broth and meat to enter his mouth.

His froze, his cheeks bulging.

Whatever new skills the pink haired girl may have acquired since he had last seen her, cooking was not one of them.

Thus he was faced with a dilemma. His tongue was opposed to his swallowing, but his stomach, and his common sense advised otherwise.

Sasuke looked at her hopeful expression, feeling himself sweat.

Oh, the agony of choice.

He swallowed thickly, wincing a little as the bitter tasting crime against cuisine ran down his gullet to his grateful stomach.

"How was it?", she asked, smiling apologetically when he levelled a semi-accusing look at her, "Sorry. I'm not used to cooking for anyone but myself".

He kept his mouth closed, choosing to pursue his earlier line of questioning.

"Are you going to stop stalling now?"

Sakura blushed a little, rubbing the back of her head, "Sorry…I'm not sure what happened. I corrected enough of the problems to keep you out of danger, but I think it would be safer for you for a more experienced medic to supervise the rest of your treatment in that area".

Sasuke nodded curtly and leant back against the bed's headrest.

"But I'll take care of your other injuries myself", she rushed to add, "I mean…I think it would be best if…"

"If I can face my punishment on my own two feet", he completed her thought, shaking his head when she tried to object.

"I know you're going to hand me over Sakura. You're a good shinobi".

Sakura looked away guiltily, feeling as if she had betrayed him somehow.

"Sakura", he spoke firmly, making her look at him before continuing, "It's stupid to concern yourself, I knew what I was doing when I left".

"You're right", she said, a brittle smile on her face as she regarded him, "Thank you Sasuke".

He averted his gaze, grunting an acknowledgement of her gratitude.

Only a fool like Naruto would have fallen for that, but it wasn't his place to question her motives.

He glanced back as she stood.

"I'll get to work after I've eaten and properly sanitized this place", she walked back over to the table, eyeing her own bowl less than enthusiastically, "With any luck I can get most of your injuries healed today and we can work on your physical therapy tomorrow…oh".

She jogged back over, retrieving a small black pill from her pouch, "Now that you've eaten, I need you to swallow this, it will replenish the blood you lost".

Sasuke accepted the pill wordlessly, having seen Kabuto use the things numerous times.

He watched bemused as Sakura began to rip up the remainder of the old bed sheets, fashioning a crude apron and hair net out of the dusty cloth.

He let his head fall back as she began moving around the room.

If nothing else, the next few days promised to be interesting.

* * *

Sasuke's amusement didn't stop there. 

Over the course of the next five days he got to watch a sight no man had previously seen except Sakura's father.

Domestic Sakura was a sight to behold. Cleaning and dusting in a fashion only a true novice could manage, he had to choke down a laugh every time she dusted to enthusiastically, raising enough of the thick powder to leave herself sneezing for a number of minutes.

She would wake up before him and start breakfast and clean whatever required it until lunch, and from there on out she worked on his injuries, healing only for a few hours to maintain her own strength, and day by day he would feel a little stronger.

* * *

Sasuke smiled unnoticed for the fourth time in as many minutes as Sakura hummed to herself while damp dusting the cabin's only table. 

It was a strangely endearing trait she didn't even seem aware of most of the time, and coupled with the oddly homey atmosphere that seemed to have arisen in the small house in the woods that was currently his home.

A part of him wondered if he might have enjoyed something like this had his family not been butchered while he was a child, forcing on to a path that was ultimately destined to end in the office of the Hokage or soon after.

In a way it was nice to know he had had the chance, in a manner of speaking. One less thing to regret.

Sakura yawned, stretching lithely and happily tossing the rag back onto the pile of similar scraps and removing the makeshift protective clothing.

"All done", she giggled as if something funny had just occurred to her, looking over at him with her hands clasped behind her back, "You know, I think I'm almost getting used to this".

Sasuke's expression had her laughing again.

"What?", she pouted, "You don't think I'd be a good wife?".

He falter for a second catching the vulnerable, almost pleading air to her question beneath the playful pout.

_What brought this on_, he wondered, ignoring the fact that his own train of thought had been running along similar lines not to long ago.

"Do be foolish", he said looking away from her coolly.

Sakura's smile fell before coming back at full force.

"Hey Sasuke, how about we do something different today", she watched as he looked at her questioningly out of the corner of his eye.

"I was thinking you might like to go outside today, you've been getting a lot better, I think you could managed a short walk", she hid a smile as she thought of the perfect way to get him to agree, "Naruto went through something similar and he was up and around already by this time".

She saw his fist clench, old rivalry rearing its head just as she had predicted it might.

"Fine", he said after a moment of silence, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed as Sakura smiled and helped him to his feet.

She still had to act as a living crutch, despite he noticed, being shorter than him by at least a head now, but he was moving more or less under his own power when they left the cabin.

Sasuke raised a hand to his face, shielding his eyes while they adjusted to dealing with direct sunlight for the first time in nearly a week.

He took a cleansing breath of the fresh spring air, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his skin.

"Come on", Sakura urged, "We didn't come out here for you to stand around admiring the scenery all day, you still need to work on those muscles of yours if you want to be able to walk any time soon".

Sasuke nodded his agreement and let Sakura lead the way.

They made slow but steady progress through the woodland, their path rarely changing direction, and it soon became a apparent that the pink haired girl had a specific destination in mind.

Sasuke pulled a low hanging branch aside while she helped him hobble under it. Despite only having walked half a mile, his legs already throbbed uncomfortably, although he'd never admit to such a thing.

"Almost there", she assured him, somehow catching on to his hidden discomfort.

They cleared the last of the tricky terrain, an incline that tested Sasuke's trembling legs to their limit, but they eventually emerged onto the bank of a small river.

They stood there together for a moment, listening to the soothing sounds of the river as the sunlight bounced of the glassy surface.

Sakura helped him find a seat against a nearby rock before taking a seat across from him.

"Tired", she asked.

He opened his mouth to deny that claim, but sighed catching sight of the look in her eyes. She was asking as a professional, not someone who used to be a friend.

"A little", he grudgingly admitted.

"Any pain?"

He grunted and looked out over the river, missing Sakura's angry expression.

_Did I really once think his attitude was cool_, she wondered irritably, opening her mouth to shout at him.

Her words never left her lips.

The vision of the dark haired young man staring out moodily over the water locked the air in her lungs, preventing any speech on her part.

Her stomach fluttered and the void trembled, reminding her once more of the reason she had brought him out here.

**_You'll probably never get another moment like this, no matter how long you try to delay healing him_**.

Sakura felt a little guilt as inner Sakura raised that point, but right now she was past caring.

"Sakura…"

Her head came up as she realised he had spoken her name, "Yes Sasuke?".

"Three days"

"What?", she asked confused, wondering where he was going with such a strange comment.

He looked at her piercingly and Sakura blushed, looking away shyly like she would have when they were kids.

"Three days, that's how long it should have taken to heal me", even though his voice was smooth and non-judgemental, Sakura felt as if she had been pole axed to the spot.

He watched her reaction without commenting at first, "This isn't the first time I've been beaten to within an inch of my life. Kabuto has healed me from worse in less time and I know you're better than him".

Sakura felt a mild thrill at the compliment even as guilt bowed her head.

"So the question", he carried on, scrutinising what little of her face he could make out at this angle, "Is why have you been dragging things out".

The Uchiha heir had a number of suspicions, ranging from time being needed for sufficient ANBU forces to be moved into position, to the whole of the past three days being the result of a complex illusion, Orachimaru had tortured him with such things as part of his training in the past, or possibly even the result of his brother's Tsukiyomi attack.

The thought of being locked in Itachi's shadow realm while his body lay helpless before him made him shiver.

No, that couldn't be true, if this was a result of the Tsukiyomi something would have happened by now. Itachi used that attack to crush the spirit of his victims, and apart from a few blows to his pride, Sasuke hadn't suffered in that area.

Sakura looked up and he was momentarily taken aback by the open look in mint eyed girl's eyes. Without speaking even he was able to pick up on the tremendous waves of loneliness and longing spilling out from those sad orbs.

Sasuke found himself unable to look away as another possibility entered his mind.

_She…she still cares for me?_

Sakura broke gaze first, blushing and looking away, giving them both time to collect their thoughts.

"I'm sorry Sasuke", she whispered, her chest tightening as she realised she had been discovered, and knowing this meant it was all coming to an end sooner than she would have liked.

The void rumbled with anticipation.

"I'm being selfish…I'll-"

"Let's go" he cut her off.

Sakura risked a glance in his direction, seeing him staring out over the water again, "Sasuke?".

"I'm getting hungry and it will take us some time to make it back to the cabin, it would be best if we leave now", he looked over at her and smiled a thin smile, "Right?".

Sakura smiled, feeling her eyes threatening to tear up again, "Right".

_This…What does this mean_, he wondered as he let her help him to his feet, _If she does still hold feelings for me after all this time, could it be she doesn't _want_ to turn me over?_

Sasuke remembered the story she had told him all those nights ago, about her rejection by Naruto after he had left. In particular he recalled the pain in her voice when she had spoken about him leaving.

Lost in thought he failed to notice the outcropping of rock exposed by spring thaw floods until his lumbering foot coiled with it.

The raven-haired boy tried to regain his balance but muscles that had already decided they had been abused to far, cramped violently, bringing him down.

He heard a yelp not his own as the ground rushed in and he closed his eys to brace for impact.

He growled under his breath at his own clumsiness as jagged rocks bit into his arms and back.

It seemed he had rolled over mid fall for some reason, landing back first.

His chest felt heavier than it should as well, something had landed on top of him as he fell.

Opening his eyes he glared up…straight into a pair of startled mint green orbs.

His glare dissolved as he realised what he was looking at, and what it was that was laying atop him.

"S-Sasuke?", Sakura asked in a shaky voice, her face warming as she felt the young man's arm around her waist. He must have pulled her to him as they fell.

She felt her embarrassment grow. Pushing away from him she scrambled off him and stood a little way off from him blushing furiously.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, I didn't mean to…"

_**To get up so fast?**,_ the inner Sakura offered sounding vexed.

"It doesn't matter", he said, awkwardly working his way into a sitting position, "I tripped".

"I-I see", she stammered, mentally slapping herself for sounding so pathetic.

She carefully assisted Sasuke to his feet, this time keeping a close eye out for any rocky outcroppings as they tackled the slope a second time.

As they walked in silence back to the cabin Sasuke was deep in thought. There was no doubt after that little incident.

This presented a surprising dilemma of conscious to the young Uchiha. While he knew he should return to face his punishment, doing so would cause Sakura yet another bout of pain and grief on his behalf, and for some reason…that bothered him.

His brow knitted in frustration.

Something would have to be done.

* * *

Sakura awoke with a start, scarred and disorientated by the darkness around her. 

When it finally dawned on her where she was, she relaxed, but only a little. Something still had her edgy.

Perhaps it was a result of all the Chakra she had exerted on Sasuke, attempting to apologise for her earlier selfishness by healing him properly.

He still wouldn't be able to walk properly for a few more days but…

Sakura felt her heart clench in her chest.

Her hand had sort out the man of her affections the moment she had awoken, but only now did it register she couldn't feel him.

"Sasuke?", the pink haired girl sat up, eyes scanning the darkness in search of him but finding herself alone in the small room.

Terror gripped her as she felt a growing numbness spreading out from her stomach.

The void knew her protector was gone.

_Sasuke!_

She almost fell from the bed, clutching at her stomach as she bolted from the room, throwing the door aside in her reckless panic.

The moon was out, illuminating the area surrounding the cabin.

Sasuke was nowhere in sight.

_Sasu-_

Sakura was doubled over as an icy chill cut through her stomach, and a hungry growl seemed to fill her mind.

"Sasuke", she whimpered, her eyes lighting on a soft depression in the earth.

Tracks, they had to be his tracks.

"Sasuke!"

Holding her goose-pimpled abdomen, the pink haired girl set off as fast as she could.

As if sensing her intent the void pushed at her instinctive defences, trying to swallow her while she was vulnerable.

Sakura felt herself crying.

Sasuke had abandoned her again, this time without even so much as a goodbye, intentional or otherwise, and without him the void would swallow her whole.

Call it luck, fate, logic, chance, whatever you will, but it was not long before Sakura found herself in sight of the retreating form of Sasuke Uchiha.

He was picking himself up having stumbled on legs still not ready to bare him over large distances, shuffling at stiff legged but determined gait away from the cabin.

The void snarled in frustration as the sight of him seemed to beat it back into its forced slumber.

"Sasuke!", the raven haired boy froze but didn't turn, "Sasuke wait!"

Sakura was still weeping openly when she reached him, grabbing the back of his flimsy vest in both hands as if her life depended on it refusing to let go.

She buried her tear soaked face in his back, crying like she had when he had left the first time.

"Why?", she sobbed, her voice muffled, "Why did you try to leave me again? Did I do something wrong, did I annoy you again? I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry…".

Sasuke's fists clenched at his sides and she clung on harder, scared that he might try and throw her off him.

After a moment of silence broken only by her muffled cries, he spoke.

"You're only making this harder", his voice held a tremor she hadn't heard before. It wasn't quite anger, or annoyance, it was almost…sadness? Regret?

"You should have stayed asleep".

Sakura felt her tears dry, anger swelling up in place of her fear.

"Baka!", she yelled, banging a fist hard against his back, "Jerk!"

She continued to drum against his back until her strength ran out and she was left leaning against him panting.

"Are you finished?", he asked quietly but she didn't answer.

"Just tell me why"

Sasuke sighed his shoulders tensing as if he were considering making a run for it instead of replying.

"I…don't want to see you hurt again"

"What?", she asked, trying to walk around him to get a look at his face but finding that he would turn away very time she got close, "By running away again?".

"Yes", he answered, glancing over his shoulder briefly.

"How did you think that would help me?", she demanded, "You just want to avoid the Hokage".

"What would happen if I let you take me back Sakura?"

When she was silent he continued, "If I go back, I'm dead unless I run. I've spent my entire life with no one, living only a hollow existence. I would spare you that pain".

She felt her breath catch as he turned to regard her with solemn eyes, "That is why I choose to run".

"Sasuke-kun", she traced the outline of his jaw timidly with one hand, "Why would you do something like that for me?".

He smiled a rare smile, reaching up and holding her hand in an oddly gentle way, "To thank you".

Sakura blushed when he didn't look away, but continued to stare directly into her eyes.

Suddenly his face changed, contorting into a look of pain.

His hand left hers, tracing back to small dart sticking out of his neck.

He pulled it free, and held it up as everything began to waver and ripple as if he were viewing the world underwater.

_What…what is…_, his thoughts began to slow and slur. In front of him he could see Sakura trying to take the dart from him, speaking with worry in her eyes, but he couldn't hear anything.

Behind her, five animal masked figures stepped out from behind the trees.

In one of their hands was a small blowgun.

_ANBU…It was an ambush…Sakura set me up…_

Sasuke felt his legs give way but he didn't feel like he was falling even as he watched the ground grow closer.

As Sakura screamed his name above him, he didn't feel any anger, just a kind of hollowness, like the day his Clan had been butchered.

A void.

Darkness stole the world.

* * *

---Author Notes--- 

And I bet you all thought they were heading for the happy ending didn't you? More fool you.

Stayed tuned to find out what happens next in Chapter Three: Soul Scarred; Sasuke stands trial and Sakura must overcome her guilt before it eats her alive. Perhaps she can find help from some old friends. Is there no happy ending?

Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell


	4. Chapter 3: Soul Scarred

**A/N:** Keep the reviews coming guys

Chapter Three: Soul Scarred

_"You can't escape me Sasuke-kun", Orochimaru's serpentine voice hissed through the darkened halls of the Sound's training area, echoing from all directions to where Sasuke found himself backed against a wall._

_The usually stoic boy was panting heavily, kunai held in a white knuckled death grip._

_He felt a strange sense of déjà vu and his head throbbed in time with the cursed heaven seal on his neck as he tried to figure out how he had ended up here._

_"Why do you run?"_

_Sasuke fell to his knees as a rage so powerful he thought it would boil his brain in his skull tore through his mind._

_"You can't get away Sasuke-kun", the snake master taunted, his voice sounding closer, "You are mine. You have nothing else to live for now"._

_A vision of Itachi's corpse performed a macabre parade through his consciousness._

_Gritting his teeth, Sasuke dragged himself to his feet, taking lead laden steps through the shadows, eyes scanning for his tormentor._

_"Sasuke-kun?", a light, almost musical voice called out to him and he spun, ready to defend himself._

_"What…", his guard dropped seeing who had called to him. Sakura stood, her arms clasped coyly behind her back._

_He felt sure for a second there should have been a small table behind her but the memory danced away every time he tried to grasp it._

_She smiled shyly at him, a small blush making her face even prettier than usual._

_Sasuke shook his head violently. Now was not the time for such nonsense._

_"Sakura", his voice was perfectly even as he began looking around again, his eyes and ears alert for any trace of Orochimaru or Kabuto's presence, "Leave now"._

_She held a hand up to her lip, the other arm clutching her waist, "You don't want me here?"._

_She sounded so small that he couldn't answer for a moment._

_"Am I really that much of a burden to you Sasuke-kun?", she began to walk forward._

_There was a whisper of movement from somewhere nearby._

_"Sakura! Leave here now", he commanded, feeling his frustration mount when she just shook her head softly, setting pink locks swaying gently._

_"It's ok Sasuke-kun. Please, don't leave me again"._

_Sasuke stared, unable to get his body to move as she opened her arms as if to embrace him._

_"Neither of us has to be alone anymore"._

_He stiffened as she wrapped her small arms around his larger frame._

_He wanted to push her away._

_What did this stupid girl know about loneliness? About solitude?_

_…No…No, she knew. No one could have faked the emotions she had poured into the re-telling of her life after he had left to fulfil his dream, and to end his nightmare._

_Would it be so bad, letting go of the bitterness and the hate that had warmed him each empty night since he was a child._

_To embrace a different sort of warmth._

_"Sakura…", this girl had given him a reason to keep going after he had been ready to die._

_Surely he owed her as much in return._

_"Sakura…I-", a fiery pain in his chest stole both his breath and the kind words that had teetered on the precipice of being voiced._

_Blood seeped around the kunai that was embedded in his chest, piercing his heart._

_"So you do have a heart", Sakura said, smirking at him cruelly, "After all this time I had my doubts"._

_He struggling in vain to draw breath, trying to pull her weapon free but her strength was monstrous, and she held his efforts at bay as if he were nothing more than a child._

_She let go as his knees gave out, stepping back and eying him distastefully as he clutched at the blood soaked blade she had run him through with._

_She reached behind her back, pulling out one of the animal masks used by the members of ANBU to hide their true identities and placing it reverently over her face._

_"Sasuke", from behind the clay mask, her voice was almost unrecognisable, "Heir to the Uchiha, bearer of the bloodline limit known as Sharingan…Weak"._

_Sasuke coughed, blood splattering the cracked tiles._

_"Once he was strong, strongest of the Sound Five…Where did that power go…Did you loose you hate already", Sasuke felt fear worming in his gut, eyes unable to tear away from Sakura's masked face as she reached up, pulling the clay cover aside, "little brother?"._

_Itachi's impassive face stared coolly back at Sasuke as the younger of the two mouthed wordless denials._

_"I'm disappointed", Itachi said his voice betraying nothing despite his words, as if he were a machine rather than a man, "Everything I did to make you into the perfect weapon, and already you've become blunt, and look what it has cost you"._

_"You have been betrayed again little brother, because you lack the strength to hate, to hate a girl who you knew was an enemy, who stalked your every waking step, and who almost succeeded in taking your path from you once before", Itachi crouched down to his eye level, gripping Sasuke by the throat._

_"That lack of determination will cost you your life"._

_Sasuke's face contorted in a rictus of pain as he felt his windpipe being slowly constricted._

_A grating laugh filled the air, as Orochimaru seemed to bleed from the shadows around the two brothers, clapping his hands in insane delight._

_"What have we here? A broken weapon,_ tsk tsk_. Never mind, weapons can be re-forged, and this time, we'll inject a stronger metal into the mix", the snake summoner lashed his bloated tongue like the tail of a cat, practically shivering with excitement as he caught the look over fear in Sasuke's midnight eyes._

_The world began to grey as the raven-haired boy's lifeblood streamed out of him and his air supply dwindled._

_In the darkness at the edges of his vision, a gapping nothingness stretched out, eager to enfold him in it's numbing embrace_.

* * *

Sasuke awoke with a scream, arms and legs thrashing against unseen restraints that held him fast. 

His eyes darted frantically around the room in which he found himself, expecting to see Orochimaru standing over him with that sickening smile as he advanced on his helpless form.

When he didn't find any trace of the Master of the hidden village of Sound in the dimly lit room, he calmed enough to take stock of what _was_ there while running through a few mental exercises to control his shallow, gasping breath.

What he could see of the room from where he seemed to be lying near the wall farthest from its single door, was lit solely by flickering candle light, much like the inner sanctum of Orochimaru, and for a moment his fear that he might be back there, tied down while the insane Sannin prepared for his body transfer technique, returned.

However, as best he recalled having visited that room as little as possible. Orochimaru's chamber was not separated from the entrance by a large and sturdy set of steel bars.

_A cell?_

Sasuke's teeth clenched so hard he risked cracking one of them. Of course this was a cell. Most likely a cell in some forgotten basement in Konoha, where the Hokage and her advisors were keeping him until they felt enough time had passed to carry out his sentence.

He doubted there would be much debate.

His fists convulsed.

Sakura had set him up. It had all been an act to throw him off balance until her ANBU support arrived. Undoubtedly that had been what she had really been doing when she claimed to do out hunting or collecting water from the stream.

She had probably been reporting to a messenger each time.

He cursed under his breath.

How had he let himself be taken in by such an act? Had he really been that blinded by the sudden success of his life long goal, that he had forgotten everything Itachi had shown him about the true side of human nature.

Humans betrayed.

He cast of all thoughts of the pink haired kunoichi, turning his attention instead to the bindings that held him.

His wrists and legs were free.

Sasuke blinked unsure what to make of it. Another examination showed that all of his limbs were free, and yet when he tried to move he felt as though her were bound to the ground by strong shackles.

His keen eyes caught something set on the floor just out of reach of his right arm. A small rectangular scrape of parchment covered symbols the deep red of dry blood.

Another was set somewhere off to his left, down by his feet and presumably up by his head.

_A grand seal_, he guessed, tracing the circular markings etched into the floor of the cell linking the individual sealing scrolls.

_Very clever_, they had obviously decided physical restraints were to risky for someone of his power, and instead opted for a seal that as well as holding him in place, would undoubtedly counteract his cursed heaven seal should he try to draw power from it to break free.

Did this mean they didn't know about his damaged Chakra system, assuming Sakura hadn't been lying about that also, or where they just being cautious?

It didn't really matter, either way he was trapped because he had let his guard down.

Sasuke smacked his head against the stone floor, grimacing through the pain.

He had been foolish to trust another human being again.

* * *

Sakura sat quietly as Tsunade and her advisors read her report. 

The silence was only broken by the occasionally murmur from the trio, usually one of the elderly councillors asking for clarification of a medical-nin specific term she had included to describe her actions and reasoning during the period of Sasuke's treatment.

To the young woman sitting across from them, not even these occasional sounds could permeate the low buzzing that seemed to fill her ears.

It was like the noise a radio makes when it hasn't been tuned to a specific station and it plays back the so-called white noise that echoes through our world undetected by human senses in the form of random emissions in the electromagnetic spectrum.

To Sakura it sounded like the world was crying because she would not.

For the pink haired girl everything was fading ever since she had returned with the ANBU squad that had captured Sasuke.

They had taken him from her trembling arms, checking him to make sure the high-powered sedative had done its work, confirming that he hadn't harmed her in anyway.

She had just stared at them blankly when they had asked her if she was alright while one of their number slung the unconscious Uchiha across his broad shoulder more roughly than necessary. Unshed tears in her mint green eyes as her mind tried to shut down and escape the death of her cosy little world.

Just then as was happening now, she could feel the void flexing, stretching, spreading its insidious vitriol throughout her system, numbing her from the inside out.

It numbed everything but the pain, the pain of knowing she had just watched as her love was taken away again, this time for good.

"Sasuke-kun", she mouthed, but no one seemed to hear but her as the Hokage and her guests continued to talk amongst themselves with a serious mien.

Her fist clutched at the red material of her dress as the numbness seeped out from her stomach, reaching her chest, making each breath as painful as drawing needles of glass into her delicate lungs.

"Sasuke-kun", still no one heeded her call.

The white noise in the room seemed to be building to a maddening pitch as the void resonated with the world around her, its screams echoing in her ears.

Sakura felt pain and something warm and wet trickling down her neck, matting in her hair as it leaked steadily from her ears.

She brushed her fingers over the sticky fluid, not surprised when they came back bloody.

Still the roaring grew louder, intensifying the pain.

She clamped her hands down over the delicate organs, trying to shut out the terrible wailing, but it was no use.

_Escape…I have to…_

Sakura began to separate her mind from her body, allowing her consciousness to drift free of her corporeal form.

Perhaps Sasuke would find her again, somewhere in the realm of mists…

"Sakura"

Yes…I'm here Sasuke-kun, all she had to do was cut the anchor.

"Sakura!", the shout jolted her. Loosing concentration her mental anchor reacted like a bungee cord, lassoing her back into her body.

The mint eyed girl looked around blearily for a moment, taking time to register that her hands were folded neatly in her lap, not clasped over her ears, and that said organs were perfectly fine, not a trace of blood.

She met the almost motherly gaze of the fifth, only peripherally aware of the fact that the two advisors were no longer presence, and wondering how much time had passed.

"Yes Tsunade-sama", she said, her voice flat and inflectionless, that standing out to the busty blond sitting behind the Hokage's desk less than the formal honorific her pink haired prodigy had used to address her.

"The debriefing is over Sakura-chan", the older woman said gently.

"Oh…".

Tsunade steeped her hands in front of her, frowning at her subordinate over meshed fingers.

"Is everything ok Sakura-chan? Did something happen before we found you?", the fifth darkly promised herself to make the Uchiha heir pay if he had done anything to one of her people.

"No", Sakura's monosyllabic reply drew a sigh from the Hokage, as she lifted the tri-corner hat from her head and placed it on the desk.

"I see, but it's obvious something has you troubled", the brown eyed Sannin observed, "If you are worried that I might be upset with you for not contacting me as soon as you found him you need not be. Your report made it clear he required medical attention as a top priority, and I would never fault a person for that. No matter who they were treating".

Sakura didn't answer, just stared down at her hands with disturbingly vacant eyes.

"Tsunade-sama", her voice was so quiet the older woman almost had to strain to hear her, "Why did you send those men to find me?".

Tsunade frowned at the strange question being asked her, but chose to answer carefully, sensing something being hidden by her young apprentice, "You vanished without word for over a week, and those I asked told me you had seemed tired and depressed shortly before that. I grew concerned and asked a few off duty members to try and find you".

Tsunade smiled, "Imagine my surprise when they returned with not only you, but a wanted traitor safely in custody. You have always done me and the leaf proud but even I was taken aback. You managed a feat even a squad of our best and brightest failed to accomplish".

Praise and compliments usually brought some reaction out of the girl in Tsunade's experience, but this time she didn't even look up.

Sakura glanced up startled, when she felt a hand drop down on her shoulder.

"I know what you must be feeling Sakura. Just have a little faith", Sakura smiled uncertainly at the comforting expression on the fifth's ageless face, "Now go get some rest, that's an order".

Tsunade watched until the pink haired girl shuffled out of her office, walking back to her desk and slumping down in her chair.

"I thought dealing with Naruto was draining, these kids will be the death of me", Tsunade's face hardened as she regarded the papers on her desk, "I just hope she can forgive me afterward for doing what needs to be done".

* * *

Sakura didn't remember how she found herself outside the gates to the Hokage's residence after leaving her office. 

She just stood there for a moment, wondering why she was there even as numb feet began to shuffle aimlessly, taking her with them on a directionless route.

_Sasuke-kun…_

She had done what no other person had ever done before huh? She had been the one to bring Sasuke back to stand trial for his crimes.

As a shinobi that was something she should feel proud of right?

She had done her duty to the leaf.

_Sasuke-kun…_

She stopped as something ran in front of her path, nearly knocking her down with a startled yapping.

"Akamaru!", Kiba shouted, running over and hefting the pup in his arms with some difficulty as Akamaru had almost doubled in size in the past three years and would only continue to get bigger as time went on even if the long lifespan of his bred meant it wouldn't be at the prodigious rate of most canine species, "Sorry bout that Sakura, he's still a little clumsy at times, but I'm working on it".

Kiba's partner barked indignantly, wriggling free from his master's grip and growling at him angrily.

"Ok, ok, it was an accident", Kiba said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture, "But you should still apologise to…Sakura?".

He looked around but the pink haired medic was nowhere to be found.

He sniffed the air, locating her scent some distance away and growing fainter and shrugged, turning back to Akamaru, "What's her problem?".

Kiba's companion looked in the direction Sakura had gone and whimpered forlornly.

* * *

As a generally upbeat, positive person, Sakura had never been someone to ponder the irony of the universe, but at that moment she was tempted. 

For the first time in her life she just wanted to be left alone in wallow in her misery, and it was at them moment that all the people she seemed to know had decided to seek her out.

First it had been Kiba and Akamaru, and now…

"Sakura-san!", she didn't even bother to look as Lee sprinted toward her, a serious look set into his unique features.

He came to a stop in front of her hands clenched into fists beneath his chin, "I heard that Sasuke has returned to the village, and you were the one to bring him in. Is this true?"

When she didn't reply he seemed to take it as a sign of humble acknowledgement on her part.

"OOOOOOOOOHHHH", flames burned in the combat specialist's eyes, "The flame of youth burns bright in the maidens of Konoha! Tell me; tell me how you did it. This is a tale that must be remembered!".

She walked past him without so much as a backward glance.

"Eh? S-Sakura-san?", the martial artist rubbed the back of his head, wondering if he had said something to offend her, when it struck him.

"Noooooo!", he had forgotten to great her properly with the 'nice guy' pose! (Gai-sensei TM).

"Right! 500 laps on my hands around the village to make up for my failure! And should I fail at _that_, it will be 1000 squats!", transitioning gracefully from foot to hand Lee took off.

* * *

Sakura tensed when she saw Shikamaru and Chouji walking toward her. If one more person asked about Sasuke she felt as if she would just breakdown and scream herself hoarse right then and there. 

She closed her eyes, praying they would just keep walking.

"Hey", she cursed, opening them and finding Shikamaru staring at her with one eyebrow raised questioningly.

She waited for the inevitable question, but it never came.

Chouji opened his mouth to say something but held off when Shikamaru shook his head at his oldest friend before looking back at her with shrewd eyes.

"We have things to do, so we won't trouble you", the shadow user said evenly, "See you around".

Sakura nodded wordlessly as the two friends retreated into the distance.

_Why didn't they want to talk to me?_, she wondered as they vanished around a corner, _Do they…do they know there's no way I could have brought Sasuke-kun in by myself, even if I had wanted too_.

It was possible. You didn't have to be a genius like Shikamaru to remember how she had admitted to feeling about Sasuke all those years ago.

Were they now wondering if his capture had been part of a plan to defect with the traitor that had backfired on him?

Sakura continued to wonder, lost in her own guilt as an untold amount of time slipped by unnoticed.

She didn't return to herself until she found her way somehow to the spot where she and the rest of team seven had taken their first test with Kakashi-sensei.

Sakura placed a hand on the centre of the three posts, playing back the memories of happier times it evoked, and punching the stump angrily when she realised that she could no longer feel any happiness from the previously pleasant reminiscence in her current state.

The pink haired girl felt her knees growing weaker with each hit, until she was forced to lean against the post for support.

With a stifled sob she let herself slide down, turning around so that she was resting against the stump that Naruto had been tied to back then while she and Sasuke offered to sneak him part of their lunches, despite the rules they were supposed to be under.

Where had that friendship gone?

Should she have taken Sasuke and Naruto's rivalry more seriously before the incident on the hospital roof?

"Is this a pity party for one, or can any girl sit in?"

"What?"

Ino put her hands on her hips and sighed, "If I didn't know better I'd say your ears were too small, but we both know it's just your forehead distorting things".

"What do you want Ino?", Sakura growled, suddenly not in the mood for dealing with anyone, let alone her friend come rival come…whatever the hell she and Ino were supposed to be these days.

The blond seemed surprised for a moment before huffing and dropping herself down next to the other girl unceremoniously.

"Go away Ino"

"Yes, remind me again who put you in charge of me", the blond tossed her ponytail with a flick of her head and made herself comfortable.

Sakura glared at her half-heartedly before wrapping her arms around her knees and turning away.

"Sakura", the other girl rested her chin on one hand, regarding her friend seriously, "Are you ok?".

"Just fine" Sakura forced a smile seeing Ino's dubious expression, "Really, why wouldn't I be?".

"Shikamaru told me Sasuke is back", Ino rested a hand on her former rival's shoulder when she lowered her gaze, attempting to hide her face behind pink bangs just like a certain self-conscious little girl had done many years ago, "I from what I heard he came back along with the ANBU squad that found you".

Sakura hugged herself tighter, and Ino edged closer to her friend, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders.

Sakura tensed for a moment before relaxing against her one time rival.

Ino chuckled lightly to herself, "Looks like that lazy fool was right again. Shika-kun told me you weren't as happy about Sasuke's return as he would have expected, but I didn't really believe him".

Ino shook her head softly, "I was so happy when Shika-kun turned up at my house without me having to get Chouji to drag him there. So you can imagine that I was a little put out to find out he was only there because forehead-girl was out of sorts".

Ino frowned when her friend didn't react to that barb.

"Sakura-", the pink haired girl carefully unwrapped Ino's arm from around her and stood.

"I don't know why everyone is so worried", she said walking away, "I'll be fine Ino-chan, I'm used to loosing things".

"Sakura-chan…".

Ino sat there for a while after Sakura had gone, replaying her friend's words.

The blond couldn't help but remember the first time she had met Sakura. The pink haired girl had been sitting all alone, crying her eyes out because she thought no one wanted her.

Ino was struck by a similarity between now and then.

Their voices, they had been the same.

* * *

Sakura continued to wander after her talk with Ino, pausing every now and again when something triggered an old memory. 

The ramen shop and the hospital in particular stood out, sending her back to the events that had transpired before Sasuke had left.

The battle on the roof she had thought to stop with her own body. That probably would have killed her had Kakashi-sensei not been in the area and recognised the telltale sound of the Chidori.

He had intervened there, saving her and putting an end to Sasuke and Naruto's first actual fight.

Later she had chosen to talk to Naruto while Kakashi went to find his other rogue pupil, telling him he could think of it as a date because she lacked the energy to put up any argument or snappish behaviour on his part.

Unfortunately she had also lacked the energy to actually talk to him about what was bothering her, about how scared she had been watching the look in the two boy's eyes.

It had been just like when Sasuke had been taken over by the seal during the Chuunin examine.

The intent not to win, but to kill.

Naruto had done his best to cheer her up but she hadn't been very responsive, she had been plagued by the feeling that Sasuke was making some sort of choice alone if he hadn't already, and that it would tear them apart.

She hadn't even reacted when the store owner mistook her for Naruto's girlfriend which had let the energetic blond know just how out of it she really was, and causing him to redouble his efforts to lift her spirits.

When the night had ended she had thanked him but declined his offer to walk her home, wanting some time to work out what was troubling her more and more as time passed.

Finally she had figured it out, and had run through the dark streets, hoping she was wrong. Ending up…

Here.

Sakura gazed out into the forest surrounding Konoha, and at the towering gate in the distance.

The only road out of town.

---_"Thank you"_---

He had said that here, and something similar the night the ANBU had caught up to them.

She still didn't know what he was thanking her for.

"So, he's back?", Sakura felt her knuckles crack, was nowhere safe?

She turned to scream, but her voice failed as she realised that question had not been addressed to her, but at the ruby eyes woman standing in front of the silver haired form of her former teacher, Kakashi.

The dark haired kunoichi nodded to her fellow jounin, "Yes, he's still being held while the council and the Hokage prepare for his trial".

"Then there_will_ be a trial?"

Kurenai glared at the masked man, placing her hands on her hips, "Of course there will be. How could you even ask that?".

Kakashi laughed, waving his hands in front of him, "Calm down, I didn't mean anything by it".

"I'm surprised you haven't been by there already", Kurenai said crossing her arms beneath her chest, "What's your excuse this time?".

"You see", he said adopting the pose all of his students were all to familiar with, "I have been meaning to check things out myself, but-"

"Liar!", Sakura's habitual shout had both jounin turning around to face her, Kakashi's face looking relieved enough for a second to prove his guilt had Kurenai seen it.

"Ah Sakura-chan, perfect timing as always, could you help Kurenai for me, I have some things to do", before either woman could object he had blurred from view, leaving Sakura blinking in confusion and Kurenai shaking with suppressed rage.

"Slippery, promise breaking, good for nothing", the curses continued to roll off the older woman's tongue as she wondered, and not for the first time, why she hadn't been able to choose between Asuma and Kakashi yet when the latter was constantly doing things like this to her.

The wine eyed woman felt her shoulder's slump as she sighed, "Well, then Sakura-chan, shall we…"

The pink haired girl was gone.

"Kakashi", she ground out between clenched teeth, smiling as an idea struck her.

Wasn't Anko looking for a boyfriend?

* * *

"Come to see the dangerous traitor?", Sasuke said, grinning as he sensed someone lingering in the shadows of the his cell, "Kakashi-sensei". 

The copy ninja stepped forward; one of his ever-present ecchi books in one hand as he waved curtly at his former pupil, "Yo".

Kakashi marked his page and returned the small book to his hip pouch, "You're looking well Sasuke-kun".

"Is that supposed to be a joke", Sasuke motioned with his head, the only part of his body he could still move, at the sealing scrolls binding him in place.

Kakashi shrugged and leant back against the bars.

"Did you do it then? What you set out to achieve".

He looked over his shoulder at the silent boy.

"I see… So how does it feel? Revenge I mean", he took note of the tightness around Sasuke's eyes, "I think I told you once that it ultimately leads shinobi to an unfortunate end".

"Did you come to brag?", Sasuke let his head fall back.

"No, I was just in the area", he raised an eyebrow when Sasuke let out a light snort of laughter.

"Liar".

Kakashi chuckled himself, "Yeah, I guess so…".

He turned back to his ex-student, "So?"

Sasuke remained quiet for a moment, "You were right, it leaves you hollow. It's almost like being dead without lying down".

Kakashi nodded wordlessly, "But your still here. That's unusual, it makes me wonder if there is something holding you here".

"Don't be stupid", Sasuke bit out with more venom than he had intended, "There's nothing, and pretty soon it won't matter anyway right?"

The silver haired jounin ran a hand through the thick shocks of his hair, "Whatever you want to say Sasuke-kun. I hope for her sake you can overcome Itachi's legacy. This world had no need for the waking dead".

The door to the cell swung aside, admitting Tsunade and the village elders into the room. The Hokage and the jounin exchanged a wordless nod as he left, closing the door behind him.

Tsunade closed her eyes, accepting the tri-cornered hat from the woman next to her and placing it on her head.

"Sasuke Uchiha, as Hokage it is my duty to bring you to justice for your crimes against your home, your people and the leaf…do you understand", Sasuke sneered, glaring at her coldly, "I'll take that as a yes".

* * *

Kakashi let out a heavy breath, rubbing his aching temple. Ever since begin attacked by Itachi, being around a true Sharigan wielder caused the copy ninja a certain amount of discomfort, although no one could tell him why. 

"Not bad Sakura-chan", he addressed the ceiling just above him, hearing a startled intake of breath, "I almost walked right under you, but I guess it's ok for you to be here if the Hokage didn't say anything to you on her way in. She's handing down her Sasuke-kun's sentence right now, but you should be able to 'sneak' in after she's gone".

Feeling his headache getting a little lighter, he waved over his shoulder as he walked away, "Later".

Sakura dropped from her hiding place after he left, as always amazed by the seemingly effortless skills of Konoha's top jounin.

She placed a hand on the thick door separating her from Sasuke while he faced the wraith of Konoha, feeling a little better just being that near.

"Sasuke-kun…".

* * *

---Authors Notes--- 

Yeah, this is going the same way as my other stories, in other words a one shot idea is getting longer and longer each time I try to bring it to a close.

The next chapter should be the last, perhaps with a small epilogue to follow (I have a longer story in mind using this as a prequel, but we'll see how things go)

Coming soon: Chapter Four: Void; Sakura tries to reconcile with Sasuke, but how will she convince a man who has known only betrayal? And can she do it before the void claims them both, or will someone else interfere.

"Chidori! Heartbreak of Innocence!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

"You are nothing more than a weapon in the end"

Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell


	5. Chapter 4: Void

Chapter Four: Void

Laughter.

That was how Sasuke Uchiha had responded when told he was to be executed for his crimes.

He smirked a little remembering the expression on the woman Hokage's face when the first peel of mirth had rumbled forth from his thin lips.

Her advisors angry shouts had only fuel his outburst, and soon the tiny room had been filled with a shrieking laugh that had danced dangerously close to madness, reverberating through the void, resonating and growing stronger.

They had left while he had been in the grips of a sort of flash dementia, tears streaming unchecked from his eyes as they muttered amongst themselves, sadly mourning the fall of the Uchiha to insanity and lust for power.

More likely they were upset over the possibility of loosing the power of the Sharingan forever, with Kakashi unable to pass on the ability to any offspring he may have, leaving the country of fire dependant solely on the Byukagan of the Hyuuga clan to give them an edge.

He swallowed the urge to laugh again. This was not a humorous matter, and he was not mad, despite what many others might claim.

He closed his eyes as he heard the door swing open once more.

Let the gawking masses and peons come, he was tired, they would have to find their entertainment elsewhere today.

"Sasuke-kun", had he been able to move he would have frozen. That was the last voice he had hoped to hear before his sentence was carried out.

He remained silent.

He had no desire to talk to the pink haired girl who had betrayed him.

She had smiled for him, blushed, tended his wounds, and talked as if she cared.

_Lies_

All to keep him busy, to weaken his ebbing hatred while her _friends_, watched from the shadows, seeking a moment of weakness.

"Sasuke-kun", the voice was closer this time, causing years of training to betray him as one eye opened to locate her and gauge how close she had come while he had been lost in thought.

He willed the hate to flow, to scorch the very earth this mint-eyed menace stood upon, but it all seemed to vanish as soon as she smiled.

---_You are weak…why are you weak?_---

Sasuke bit his lip so hard it bled. His face scrunching as the rage began to re-surface.

The void shivered with eager anticipation.

Sakura looked around cautiously before moving over to the bars, her eyes still alert and not trained on him.

The light of the candles danced on her hair, in her eyes, and Sasuke felt his glare faltering again as the void went silent.

One week. Was that really all it had taken to undo everything Itachi had drilled into his younger brother?

---_You lack…hatred_---

Nodding to herself as if satisfied by something she had found in the cell's cramped confines, she turned her attention back to the young man bound to the floor of his prison by a powerful seal rather than conventional restraints.

His returning gaze was unfathomable, and she shifted on the ball of her feet as she gripped the bars that separated them.

Was he ok? Did the seal hurt at all? Had he been fed recently?

Sakura wished she could remove the bars, even if it was just to lye by his side like they had back in the cabin.

"Sasuke-kun-"

"I have nothing to say to you", he cut her off, onyx eyes flashing darkly.

Sakura fought to keep her smile in place, "I came to see you, I had to, I-"

"Shut up!", his outburst took them both by surprise, and Sakura huddled against the bars.

"Why are you here, you did your job", she tensed as he said that, confirming her worst fears.

_Sasuke thinks I did this on purpose_

He griped the bars until her knuckles turned white.

"Sasuke-kun, you have to believe me", her tear filled gaze implored him to listen, "I never meant for this to happen".

The dark haired boy snorted contemptuously, "You think a few tears will fool me? You should know by now that such things can't sway me".

The cruelty in his words hit Sakura like blow to the gut, forcing her to relive yet again the night he had left the village, as she had realised that her tears didn't enter into his decision.

"I didn't need your wailing then and I don't need it how", Sasuke felt something twist violently in his gut at the heartbroken look Sakura gave him as those words left his mouth.

He ruthlessly crushed the urge to take them back as tears began to run freely down her pretty face, and sharp breaths rushed in and out of perfect lips.

"S-Sasuke-kun, don't hate me, please, anything but that".

_She is trying to make me weak, she steals my hate, she admits as much!_

Sasuke seethed beneath the surface, but his voice was cold as ice and as hard as steel when he spoke.

"You're annoying", she jerked but it didn't satisfy him, "Leave, this no longer concerns you".

Sakura was sobbing openly now, small shoulders heaving in time with her grief and Sasuke felt…empty.

He felt no satisfaction, no vindication, just a gnawing pain that left everything numb and distant as it spread.

It was like when he used the heaven seal but worse, it was like dying again.

He'd felt like this when he was in Itachi's shadow realm, helpless as the Tsukiyomi bombarded him with the horror of his Clan's death a thousand fold, shredding his fragile mind and ego under the weight of their screams as it all blurred into one before becoming silence.

Perfect solitude.

He had experienced it again when he had been placed in a state of artificial death to lower his mental defences and enable his seal to delve deeper into his mind, granting him the power of it's second stage when he was revived at the end of the process.

"No", he couldn't believe what he had heard for a moment, and could only stare as she wiped at red ringed eyes.

Sakura's head rose slowly, showing him one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen, "You once told me that before. Because back then I didn't understand solitude".

She wiped away a remaining tear, reaching through the bars as if she could touch him, even though she lay to far away for such a thing.

Sasuke felt the urge to flinch away from her touch, as if it were anathema to his existence in someway.

The void trembled with him.

"I understand now Sasuke-kun", she reached behind herself, removing one of the kunai stored in her pouch, "I finally know what it means to be alone thanks to you, thanks to Naruto…no, it's not fair to include him I suppose".

Sasuke found his eyes couldn't leave the blacked steel of the blade she held.

What did she plan to do with it, and why did the hopelessness in her voice set him on edge?

"Hey Sasuke-kun, would you like me to teach you a new technique?", she rested her head against the bars as if suddenly very tired, "I developed it myself. It's a variation on Ino's Shintenshin no jutsu. I just separate my mind from my body and let it drift".

Her voice was dreamy as she slid down to her knees.

Sasuke felt something in his chest tighten.

"Did you know there is a whole other world out there? It's so beautiful, a realm of mists", she looked at him with another beatific smile, "It's very peaceful, and your never alone, there are so many things there. All your thoughts become real for you".

She frowned a little seeing his wide-eyed look.

"Don't you want to see it Sasuke-kun, we can go there together, and never have to be lonely again", she smiled reassuringly as he watched her bring the kunai up to her wrist, "We can stay there forever if you want. All I have to do is cut the cord".

The dark haired boy was speechless.

He wanted her gone that was true, but if she was suggesting what he thought she was…

Something inside him was reacting, screaming out against the thought of Sakura harming herself.

"Will you come with me, Sasuke-kun?".

Whatever his reply would have been, they never found out. The strangely ominous sound of the cell door grinding open drew both teenagers attention.

When the door was fully ajar, they could see a young man in dressed in the vest of a jounin of Konoha standing in the entranceway.

Sakura hid the kunai behind her back as she turned to face him, her body shaking as the realisation of what she might have been about to do caught up with her.

_Would I have really…was I going to…_, she was unable to complete the thought and so focused herself on the man before her, probably a guard who had heard strange noises from the cell and come to investigate.

He would never know how grateful Sakura was to him.

"Um…Hi, I…I was just", the jounin didn't speak as he toppled forward, collapsing lifelessly to the ground with a dull thud.

Sakura blinked at the corpse on the ground before her, her head jerking up when someone spoke.

"You've caused me a lot of trouble you know?", the voice set her teeth on edge. It was like there were a thousand insects crawling across her bare skin as she shuddered with revulsion.

The speaker stepped out of the hall and into the light, causing her throat to lock in fear, his snake like eyes looking at the boy behind her while a sadistic grin spread across his cruel features.

"Sasuke-kun", the way he purred the younger man's name made her want to vomit.

Orochimaru 

The snake master stepped on the body of the man he had undoubtedly murdered as he walked toward Sasuke's cell.

"The security here is a lax as always, one more reason to hurry along the destruction of the pathetic little village", his travesty of a smile widened as he found the reason Sasuke had yet to stand, "but at least they have secured my precious new body for me, I was so worried when you vanished Sasuke-kun. I should have known that letting you meet with that little spy you thought I didn't know about was a bad idea. But then again who could have guessed that Itachi would become careless enough for your efforts to locate him. I doubt the rest of the Nine would be pleased to know that".

The pale Sannin took another step toward his goal, "I'm lucky the girl found you before they did".

"What?", Sasuke asked suspiciously. How could his master know what had happened?

"Yes most fortunate", he continued as if Sasuke hadn't spoken, "A good thing I marked you as mine or I would have had no idea where you went after all those nasty things you slipped into my wine wore off. Have you been playing with Kabuto again Sasuke-kun?".

Sasuke felt his skin crawl. The S-class criminal before him had long since seized to startle him with his bursts of madness, a possible side effect of hopping bodies like most people changed clothes.

However his veiled innuendos and tastes still never failed to disturb him.

"You've had your fun", the snake master held out a hand as if waiting for the sealed boy to take it, "Time to come home".

"No!", Sakura placed herself between Orochimaru and the prone Sasuke, the kunai she had contemplated using on herself moments before held in a two handed grip before her, "Leave Sasuke-kun alone"

Orochimaru cocked his head curiously at her, a thin smile present on his lips as recognition crossed his features.

"You", he chuckled, "You must be…Sakura was it?".

He smiled wider seeing her shock, "Did you know Sasuke-kun has been dreaming about you for some time now? Yes I was almost jealous you know, but Sasuke-kun belongs to me. Stand aside"

"No!"

The snake master's smile faded, his face seeming even sharper, "Don't be stupid little girl, I haven't decided to kill you yet".

"I said no, I won't let you have Sasuke-kun", Sasuke looked at her as if this were the first time he had seen her.

"Sakura…"

Orochimaru threw back his head with a cackling laugh, "This again? I think Sasuke has proved where his loyalties lye by now. He is already mine. I have no plans to let one foolish little girl interfere".

"If you harm her…", Sasuke threatened darkly, drawing the Sannin's attention to him.

Orochimaru's face twisted with contempt.

"Don't presume to order me just because you are my current favourite", the snake master was a blur as he shot forward.

Sakura tensed, readying her weapon.

Suddenly Orochimaru rolled aside as a wave of kunai struck the ground he had been standing on moments before.

Faster than she could blink he had rolled around Sakura and come up behind her, summoned snakes slithering free of his robes and binding the pink haired girl tightly in place.

"Really Tsunade", he snorted as Sakura struggled in the grip of the serpents, "Is that anyway to greet old friends?".

Sasuke's head snapped around as the second of the legendary Sannin emerged from some concealed hiding place, glaring fiercely at her former friend and team-mate.

He hadn't even sensed her presence, but he had sensed the other.

Orochimaru leaned back lazily as a shrukien flew past his head, trimming a few hairs in the process.

Another snake shot out of his sleeve, forcing Kakashi to drop cover and roll aside toward Tsunade.

Orochimaru gazed around the room casually.

"Is that it Tsunade? Just you and an Uchiha wannabe against _me_", he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, "I'm insulted".

"I thought we would have more time before you attacked, I haven't had chance to recall any of my jounin", she smirked, "It's not like you to be so hasty. Regardless you're still out numbered, give up".

Her former team-mate threw back his head with another cackling laugh, "It's nice to know your sense of humour hasn't been dulled by the years Tsunade. I'm afraid I will have to decline your offer".

Tsunade slid into a ready stance as the legendary blade at the other Sannin's command slide forth from the maw of one of his snakes into his waiting hand, spreading her weight evenly for optimum reaction time.

The razor edge flashed out, but not in the direction she had expected.

Three quick cuts removed a large section of the bars from Sasuke's prison, while a forth bisected the scroll near his feet, breaking the seal that restrained him.

Sasuke began to strain as the power of the seal slowly faded, his face locked on that of his master.

"Sasuke-kun", the snake master smiled, "Once you get free, meet me at the place you made your choice".

Sasuke through all of his weight against the retreating magic, managing to free one arm as he realised what was happening.

Orochimaru's feet began to sink as if the ground were made of sand.

"Orochimaru!", he screamed, tearing the other arm free.

"Hurry up Sasuke", the body swapper taunted, pulling Sakura to himself while Tsunade and Kakashi struggled with the mass of snakes that had been summoned to their master's aid while he fled.

"Sakura!", he struggled but couldn't free himself completely as the pale skinned Sannin sank from sight with one final bone shuddering laugh.

As if Orochimaru's presence had been all that maintained the seal's faltering power, Sasuke was free, rocking back on his spine, placing his hands behind his head and spring-boarding to his feet.

He growled at the spot his master had vanished on, his mind already working through the possible locations the older man could have been referring to.

A number of possibilities from across the years presented themselves but Orochimaru had a tendency to favour the dramatic.

If he had taken Sakura then it would be something to do with team seven. Something momentous.

Sasuke smirked at the obviousness of the choice.

_Of course that pretentious bastard would go _there he sacrificed a second to remember the most direct route from Konoha to the spot he had beaten Naruto shortly after gaining the power of stage two.

His destination confirmed he began to reach for the seal's power, as always feeling slightly heady as the dark power coursed in his veins, triggering the Sharingan like a knee-jerk reflex.

Darkness swirled around his heart, eating his soul, as the tattoo like pattern of the seal at stage one spread across his body from his neck.

He grinned like the devil himself as he felt the bloodlust rise. He would find his master, no, _former_ master, he would retrieve Sakura, and tear Orochimaru apart.

"Sasuke!", the voice cut into his pleasant thoughts of the carnage he would reap, forcing him to focus on his first obstacle.

The Hokage of Konoha and the fake Uchiha bared his wary with wary glances and readied weapons.

"Stand down Sasuke", the fifth ordered, wincing at the ear-splitting laugh her command produced from the boy.

He was the sole survivor of the Uchiha now, he had surpassed and defeated Itachi the man hailed as a genius even in his own Clan, beaten Naruto, vessel of Kyuubi, attained and mastered the power of the cursed seal of heaven, strongest of them all.

He would bath in these insects blood as he tore them limb from limb, he would…

Sasuke clasped his head in his hand as he fought back the power of the seal, pushing it back into its forced slumber with the aid of the secondary seal Kakashi had given him all those years ago.

When his eyes opened the Sharingan was gone, but his opponents didn't make the mistake of lowering their guard. He was still more powerful than most jounin even accessing the seal indirectly like this, and they knew that.

"Tsunade-sama, Kakashi-sensei", the use of formal honorific didn't persuade them to back down, but it might make them more likely to listen. He would need all the power at his disposal to defeat Orochimaru.

He had no intention of becoming that sick freaks container, and more importantly…

"Please move aside", he said, allowing some of the seal to leak free as a silent warning of why it was in their best interests to comply, "I have no interest in either of you, but if you insist on standing in my way…I will destroy you".

Neither of the other ninja seemed phased by his threats and he silently cursed. He truly did not wish to do this the hard way, especially if it meant harming or killing two of the people most cared for by the girl he….

_No, think of such things later, they have no place here_, Sasuke slid into an even stance, another non-verbal warning.

He was only doing this out of a sense of duty. He had already decided not to let this get personal.

Humans betrayed.

"Sasuke-kun", his former teacher spoke up, his voice as emotionless as always, "What are you planning to do?".

Kakashi had caught something in his student's eyes he hadn't seen in a long time, ever since a thirst for revenge overtook the younger man.

A desire to protect something.

"Sakura-chan doesn't need an avenger Sasuke-kun", the dark haired boy's eyes went tight and Kakashi reached for his forehead protector, readied to match his own Sharingan against Sasuke's even if it there was no chance he could come out the victor.

"If you delay me any longer, I may need that title again, and you will be my target this time sensei", Kakashi blinked, Sasuke no longer called himself an avenger? Did that mean he had finally given up on revenge, or had he succeeded in killing Itachi?

That prospect didn't bode well. Itachi had been accepted as one of the Nine. S-ranked criminals even the legendary Sannin were wary of. If Sasuke had defeated him his power must be monstrous.

Another thought crossed the silver haired shinobi's mind.

If Itachi was dead, why was Sasuke still fighting? The broody young man had always claimed he only lived to kill his brother, and with that accomplished…

Kakashi lowered his hands, straightening and stepping aside.

Sasuke looked at him questioningly.

Kakashi shrugged and took out his favourite book, "Do what you have to, protect your friends".

"I'm pretty sure that decision is mine", Tsunade said, causing him to fumble the book and smile apologetically.

She sighed, what was it about the students of Jiraiya and their protégés that made them think they were in change of any given situation?

She had also picked up on the subtle changes in Sasuke's attitude and demeanour however, and agreed with Kakashi's unspoken conclusions.

She rubbed her head as she stepped aside, "This wasn't exactly part of the plan. The council will probably give me a stern talking to for this".

Sasuke frowned, wondering why she was attacking as if she had told some sort of in-joke.

"Shizune too", his confusion went up as she actually winced a little at that last statement.

"You should hurry, before she changes her mind", Kakashi advised.

Sasuke nodded roughly, taking off passed them, opening the door with a strong kick and vanishing into the tunnels that honeycombed the Hokage monument overlooking the town.

"I hope that was a good idea", Kakashi said when he was gone.

Tsunade laughed quietly under her breath, "Probably not, but if he comes back alive the Uchiha's sacrifice might still mean something".

"Protectors of the people no matter the cost", Kakashi recited something he had heard a long time ago.

Tsunade sighed heavily, glancing skyward with world-weary eyes, "No matter the cost".

* * *

Sakura woke with a strangle cry.

She had blacked out during the technique Orochimaru had used to escape.

How could he stand the soul suffocating cold that had wracked her during the transition?

She was suspended by her wrists and ankles but could not see her surroundings.

Her vision was patchy at best, but she could hear a deafening roar, and feel a wet spray coating her face and body, leaving her to shiver in damp clothes that clung to her body.

"Awake now?", an mockingly kind voice asked from somewhere above her and she craned her head back, trying to identify with of the coloured blotches above her was responsible.

"Not a moment to soon, he should be hear soon", the voice took on an almost purring note that threatened to make her empty her stomach, "He's moving quite quickly considering he isn't accessing the seal. He should be here in a few hours at the most".

_Sasuke-kun?_

"It looks like my suspicions were correct, he has taken quite a liking to you my dear, though I can't see why".

Sakura felt a thrill of excitement run through her.

_Sasuke-kun is coming…for me?_, she smiled to herself, feeling her cheeks heat.

Sasuke was coming to rescue her.

She hoped he hadn't hurt anyone as he escaped.

Her happiness vanished as she realised that if Sasuke was coming for _her_, then Orochimaru could and would us her to force him to return to the Sound.

Sakura felt helpless tears well up at the thought of her being used to hurt Sasuke in any way, and promised it wouldn't come to that.

If the need arose she would use her technique, and this time, she wouldn't hesitate to cut the cord if it would keep him safe.

* * *

Sasuke barely contained his impatience as the ground passed by at what to anyone else would be a blur.

To someone used to tapping the power of a cursed seal however it was like being reduced to a crawl after being able to run.

He burst clear of the last of the trees, his feet slapping down on the muddy ground, echoes of memory skittering form the darkened recesses of him mind with each step.

This was the same path he had taken when being chased by Naruto.

He had been drunk on the sense of unlimited power throbbing in his veins, running just for the pure joy of how alive he had felt.

He hadn't even realised Naruto was following him until he had reached the cave that he could see just up ahead, and when he had he had tried to brush the blond off as an annoyance, using a powerful genjutsu, something he had never previously shown much aptitude for.

Somehow Naruto had continued to through the illusion that should have disabled him, continuing to chase him until he had been forced to face the other boy…here.

The damage to the two gigantic statues of some bygone era that stood guard over the falls was still visible.

Most likely no one had come here since he had left Naruto battered and humbled by his power.

Now if he could repeat that lesson with the snake master things would be just fine.

He leapt, performing a lazy somersault and landing on top of the head of the nearest statue, hands resting casually in his pockets as he scanned the area.

He located a flash of pink, clenching his teeth as he spotted the stone shackles holding Sakura in place over the lethal fall onto the rocks below.

"Sasuke-kun", he froze, his eyes going wide, "I'm so glad you made it, I take it the fake and that annoying woman are dead?".

Sasuke grinned over his shoulder, his hand clasping one of the items hidden in the pockets of his trousers, "Not exactly".

Orochimaru gasped as the kunai embedded itself in his chest, staggering backward, clutching desperately at the weapon.

"Enough", Sasuke spat, glaring at him with the red eyes of Sharingan, "I'm not stupid and neither are you".

The clone of his master smirked at him before bowing mockingly and melting into mud and dirt.

"Excellent as always", Orochimaru complimented him as his apprentice stooped to retrieve the kunai, eying him across the water fall that separated them, "A single clean stab through the heart. That would have killed me Sasuke-kun".

"There's still time", Sasuke said, tossing the blade to his other hand and taking a second from his pocket.

"Do you want to kill me Sasuke-kun?", Orochimaru drew an kunai from his own pouch with his tongue, dropping it into his waiting hand.

Sasuke readied his guard, tapping into the power of the seal at stage one.

The Sannin's eyes narrowed as he watched the tattoo like marks of the heaven seal spread across the exposed areas of Sasuke's body.

"I think you've gotten a bit ahead of yourself Sasuke-kun. You know you can't beat me, so why try?".

Sasuke's response was to increase the output of the seal, his Chakra sending ripples across the fall as he lowered his centre of gravity.

"Shut up and die".

The raven-haired boy exploded into motion, charging across the raging waters with a fierce cry.

He drove in at Orochimaru with everything he had. His first swipe was dodged smoothly and the second parried wide as if whipped the second kunai directly through the path of the first.

As he fell, Sasuke pushed off the ground, scything his foot around in a wide arc that aimed to remove the Sannin's head from his shoulders.

Orochimaru grinned as he caught Sasuke's foot, grasping his kunai in his tongue as he was forced to use his free hand when Sasuke planted his hands on the ground pivoting and aiming a kick at his midsection.

He grabbed the other foot, his smile widening.

His feeling of triumph faltered as Sasuke crunched his stomach, putting him level with his opponent's chest as he drew back his fist, channelling his Chakra into the limb.

Sasuke gasped as his hand suddenly stopped dead. He looked over at the uncooperative appendage and found the source of his troubles. True to his name Orochimaru had summoned a snake to bind his arm before he could deliver the blow.

The Sannin smiled at the helpless boy, using his tongue to wave the kunai back and forth in front of his face.

"Game over Sasuke-kun, time to surrender".

Sasuke smirked knowingly and glanced at his opponent's feet.

Orochimaru's eyes widened at what he saw.

The explosive seal fizzed as it drew closer to completing its mission in life.

"Boom", Sasuke lashed out with his foot, kicking is former master square in the forehead as the seal exploded hurtling them in separate directions.

There was a cry from below him as dirt and debris rained down upon Sakura, reminding him why he had come there in the first place.

Sasuke's face hardened as his hands worded a number of seals in a pattern known only to members of his family.

His moulding complete, Sasuke drew a deep breath and held his right hand up to his lips as if gripping the neck of a bottle.

"_Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!_".

A huge ball of flame shot forth from his hand as he breathed out through the narrow tube made by his thumb and forefinger.

The burning wave shot through the dust and smoke created by the explosive seal, striking something and engulfing it.

_Did I get him?_, Sasuke thought, unable to believe the element of surprise had defeated a creature like Orochimaru so easily.

There was a whisper of movement behind him as the flames began to clear, showing a hardened mud clone standing at the centre of a burnt crater.

Sasuke spun, as he fell, crossing his arms to stop the punch aimed at his face.

He grunted under the impact, crying out when Orochimaru's foot shot under his guard, catching him hard under the chin and sending him sailing back upward.

Sasuke opened one eye as something gripped his leg, hauling him back to earth once more.

Sasuke braced himself as he was thrown repeatedly into the walls of the waterfall before being dropped, plunging beneath the surface of the icy water.

"Sasuke-kun!", Sakura called out as he vanished below the water.

Orochimaru landed on the surface as light as a feather, barely causing a ripple.

"Is that all you have Sasuke-kun? I know you aren't as weak as that", his eyes flickered back and forth across the water, waiting for his apprentice to make his move.

The water at his feet exploded upward, a sandal-clad foot rocketed out and striking him hard enough to launch him into the air. Sasuke followed; legs flashing out repeatedly as he drove the other man airborne.

He used his Chakra to propel him above the Sannin, performing a barrel roll as he went and bringing his leg down on the other man's gut with a devastating axe kick.

Sent to ground once more, Orochimaru cried out as he felt the first of Sasuke's blows collide, driving him ever faster toward the river below.

"_Lion combo!_"

Water flew in all directions as the pair crashed threw the river's tranquil surface with earth shattering force.

Watching from above, Sakura could only pray as the falls replenished the missing water, and an eerie silence descended upon the valley.

"Sasuke-kun…", her eyes roved the waters, searching for some sign of the dark haired young man who had come to rescue her.

With a shuttering cough, Sasuke emerged, gasping for air as he dragged himself ashore, crawling on hands and knees to distance himself from the river.

Sakura almost wilted with relief.

Sasuke was ok and there was no sign of Orochimaru.

She looked at him, waiting for him to come get her down, but he hadn't moved from where he knelt at the riverside.

Something was wrong.

* * *

Sasuke couldn't move.

His hand tightened on the kunai embedded in his stomach.

Being stabbed was a lot more painful than he had thought it would be. Far more painful than being hit by Haku's ice needles, or the lightening blade the missing-nin Aoi had used against him to defeat Chidori.

Even being smacked around by Gaara's semi-transformed body couldn't compare to the indescribable feeling of having cold steel shred your innards as it pierced your skin.

Tightening his grip and bracing himself, Sasuke pulled the weapon free, feeling faint as he tossed it aside and redirected a little of the cursed seal's power into his abdomen.

He rolled over, staring panting at the river, his red irises narrowing.

It wasn't over yet.

A small island of limp black hair appeared in the centre of the water, followed rapidly by a pale face and amused snake like eyes.

Orochimaru surfaced, reaching behind himself for another kunai.

"Did that hurt Sasuke-kun? I am sorry. You know I really don't want to injure you more than I have too. Just come home, all is forgiven".

The Sannin sighed as he knocked the shrukien launched at him aside.

"Of course if you really want me to, I could be persuaded".

Sasuke snorted, pulling taut the wires that had been attacked to his shrukien, sending them in a tight arc around Orochimaru's body, wrapping the controlling wires around him.

A quick jerk of his head and the wires had the snake master trapped.

"You talk too much. _Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!_", fire streaked down the wires contenting Sasuke to Orochimaru, the snake master's agonised scream filling the valley and causing Sakura high above them to advert her eyes.

Sasuke released the wires, his hands already forming the seals for another technique, a more powerful one.

When done his left hand shot down, Chakra gathering around it in such quantities that it became visible to the human eye, sparking and writhing around his hand like a thing alive.

"Time to end this. _Chidori!_", Sasuke charged, arm hanging limply at his side as the discharge from the Chidori gouged a furrow in the earth.

Water sprayed behind him as his feet hit the water, an application of Chakra holding above the aqueous surface as he ran.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!", the Chidori sliced cleanly through the smoke and the world went white.

* * *

"_Chidori!_"

Sakura screwed her eyes shut as Sasuke's last attack lit the world with a blinding light.

She had only just managed to get her sight back and she didn't want to loose it again.

Sakura cautiously opened one eye when she could no longer sense the glare through her closed lids.

"Sasuke-kun!"

* * *

Those who don't think history repeats itself just aren't paying attention.

Sasuke could only stare as Orochimaru smiled, pushing his arm a little further away from where it had come dangerously close to hitting him with the energy blade Chidori.

Sasuke glared, pulling a kunai from his pocket and driving it toward his opponent's face.

Blood flew.

Sasuke screamed as Orochimaru twisted the blade of his sword, grinning around the pommel that emerged from the mouth of the snake that had once been his tongue.

The sword was buried in his shoulder the humming blade continuing to slowly cut more and more of the surrounding tissue without moving.

Orochimaru frowned at his apprentice, launching him back with a solid blow to the gut, only to be stopped by one of the boulders that surrounded the bank.

The blade retracted back into the snake master's mouth along with his serpentine tongue.

Orochimaru frowned at his apprentice. That attack had been pathetic for someone with all the power of the seal at their command.

"Sloppy Sasuke-kun", he shook his head sadly, "You see what caring about this girl has brought you?"

"Who said I care", Sasuke cough, blood spraying the ground. He knew the impact had cracked at least one rib and now it looked like one of his lungs might be damaged as well.

"Please", Orochimaru spat, "What other explanation is there. You're distracted by the desire to keep her safe and it has made you weak. A kunai does it's job because it doesn't think about what it is, or what it does, it is cold. There is no place in your life for feelings for others Sasuke-kun".

The snake master's eyes narrowed angrily.

"You are nothing more than a weapon in the end".

---_"…You are now the perfect weapon my little brother", Itachi glanced down at the blood pooling around him from the wound in his chest with almost child like fascination, "You have beaten me…"_---

"You're right", Sasuke said, his chin resting against his chest, hiding his face from his observers.

---"_Hate me Sasuke, always hate me…I don't mind if it makes you strong, it's my duty as your brother"_

_Sasuke looked up from where he lay next to his brother, "Oni-san…"_

"_I never felt something that strong you know. I was too powerful, I grew cold…arrogant. I stopped growing._

_Don't stop…get stronger Sasuke, even if you hate me forever"_---

"I am a weapon…but I am not flawed because I feel", Orochimaru frowned; Sasuke's Chakra was growing again.

"You know there is a thin line between all emotions", Sasuke began to stand, clutching at his ribs.

"Sorrow, happiness, hate…love. They're all the same in the end, the only difference is the choice. How we interpret them limits their strength…"

---_"Leave…you're annoying"_---

---_"Feh, you really are annoying, aren't you?"_---

Sasuke spared a glance at where Sakura was held.

---_"Thank you"_---

_I finally know what I meant by that_, he thought at her silently, _No more limits_.

"No more limits", Orachimaru took an involuntary step back as the power from his pupil continued to grow, changing.

Sasuke marvelled at the power welling up inside him because of a simple choice, an change of opinion.

He could feel the seal straining to cope with the new emotions it was being asked to interpret.

His former master leapt back, opting for a change of tactic at this unexpected outcome, landing on the cliff face next to his hostage and breaking her bonds, pinning her in front of himself as a human shield.

Sasuke smirked, his face still hidden, "You can't win anymore, I can see my dream again".

---_Sasuke smiled happily to himself as Itachi sighed, dropping down to let the younger boy climb onto his back._

"_Are you on Sasuke-kun?"_

_When the boy nodded the elder of the brothers stood again, making sure to get a good grip on his younger sibling's legs before setting off._

"_Why did you try that?", he asked as the walked._

"…_I want to be a good ninja, like Oni-san", the young boy said quietly after a moment._

_Itachi glanced back at him, knowing what his little brother really meant by that. The young boy wanted their father's approval more than anything. A hard thing to achieve in the shadow of a genius elder brother._

"…_Don't push yourself…I'm sure one day everyone will know what an excellent ninja you are", Itachi assured him solemnly._

_Sasuke smiled, resting his head against his brother's shoulder, "Thank you…"_---

"I see it"

---_Sasuke lay awake, watching the pink haired girl that slept peacefully in his arms. They were sharing this bed out of necessity. Shared body warmth was one of the basics of survival training. _

_Shy shinobi died._

_That wasn't why he was awake. He found himself unable to sleep properly with her there, but he found it harder to doze in the day when she wasn't._

_It was…nice. Willing contact with another human being who wanted nothing more than to be close to him, no expectations or ulterior motives._---

"I will protect that dream", Orochimaru was staring incredulously as Sasuke's power surged yet again.

---"_Why are you doing this?"…"To thank you"_---

"My dream doesn't have to be in the past anymore…And I won't let anyone take that from me!", Sasuke's head shot up, his Sharingan eyes pinning Orochimaru to the spot.

Sasuke's hands were a blur as they began working the seals for his ultimate technique.

---_"Naruto…", Sasuke barely managed to force his words out as his body tried to fight his will to keep him down and pray Gaara rediscovered mercy, "I can stand a little now…I'll keep him busy"._

_He glared at the travesty of nature the Sand ninja had become; ignoring the pain his ruptured seal wracked his body with after his overuse of Chidori._

"_Protect Sakura no matter what…I will not loose another person I care for"_---

"Do you know how I'm going to beat you?" Sasuke asked, his left hand shooting downward, Chakra gathering with a tortured cry like a thousand birds singing at once, "I'm going to show you the hidden power of stage three".

Orochimaru scoffed, "There is no stage three Sasuke-kun, you're bluffing".

Sasuke return grin spoke otherwise.

"Stage one: The seal is released, and the user channels whatever power it releases".

The tattoo like markings flared as they spread over his body.

"In this stage, the cursed seal is purely reactive, drawing forth and amplifying the hosts Chakra in response to fluctuations in there emotive state".

Sakura gasped as Sasuke's face contorted, shifting as his hair growing longer with his morphing body.

Soon the only part of the bat like creature she could recognise were the red eyes, marked by three black dots.

"Stage Two", he rasped, his voice as inhuman as his appearance. The Chidori blazed brighter, making it hard to look at.

"The seal merges with the host body, forcing a continued state of rage that it uses in combination with the hosts Chakra to produce unbelievable power…Stage three".

Sasuke's body shrunk, returning to normal, the tattoos retreating across his body until they were out of sight.

Orochimaru swallowed thickly as his apprentice's power took another leap.

On Sasuke's neck, he could just make out the seal, seemingly in it's dormant state but rotating rapidly in time with the dots of his Sharingan.

"The user subdues the seal using it to convert his desires into power. The stronger the desire, the stronger the power".

The Sannin smiled as sweat began to trickle down his brow, "Do you really want to kill me that much Sasuke-kun?".

Sasuke barked a short, sharp laugh.

"I don't give a damn about you".

Sakura felt herself blushing.

"No one escapes the Uchiha".

The Chidori flared, bolts of power crashing in all directions.

Sasuke lowered himself and pushed off.

The air screamed as it was rent apart by the passing of the energy blade, and the river parted like the red sea as he carved his way across its bed.

Orochimaru held Sakura closer to himself as Sasuke hid the base of the cliff, adhering to it with his Chakra and tearing up it at a pace few would have been able to match on dry horizontal ground.

How dare this _boy_ try this after all he had done for him!

His features scrunched in hatred as the blazing ball of light Sasuke Uchiha had become drew closer, rock and energy flying in his wake.

"If you continue you'll kill the girl", he warned his rogue student.

The boy kept coming.

"She'll die!"

His unwavering course continued.

"Stop! This is not part of my dream!".

Sasuke closed the final gap, looking directly in Sakura's eyes as she smiled happily.

"Sasuke-kun…".

"Stop!"

"_Chidori! Heartbreak of Innocence!_"

Sight and sound disappeared and everything became light.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun"

Sasuke could see nothing but white.

"Sasuke-kun"

The blank canvas was slowly replaced by a beautiful pink haired girl, tears in her mint green eyes, her sadness tugging painfully at his heart.

"I love you! I love you so much!…Please, don't go…or if you must, take me with you".

_Sakura…_

The image was replaced. The same girl but this time with her hands clasped coyly behind her back as she smiled at him shyly.

"Don't you think I'd make a good wife?".

The pink haired girl reached out for him, a beatific smile on her pretty face.

_Sakura!_

The world shattered, and fell away.

* * *

Orochimaru smiled, he held the boy's arm in his tongue, everything was alright, he had failed.

The Sannin's laugh cut short as he wrenched, crimson fluid flowing over the arm that he held.

The arm that had pierced his chest and crushed his heart.

He turned rapidly glazing eyes on his killer, seeing the boy smiling up at him, panting with exhaustion.

Orochimaru felt his body going numb even as he sort to strike back at the smirking brat.

He swayed, releasing his hostage as the edges of his vision greyed and everything started to go quiet.

He watched as Sasuke and Sakura began to fall with him. He couldn't see properly anymore, it was all too dark.

He marvelled as his sense of tumbling vanished with everything else.

Abruptly he felt himself hauled upright, face to face with a pair of piercing red eyes.

Red eyes with three black dots set into the lined, angular face of the traitor and former member of the Nine.

Itachi Uchiha.

"So he did it", the imposing man said, his voice showing neither happiness or annoyance, "Sasuke-kun has surpassed the Sannin…I guess this means I was right about him. Our sacrifice was not in vain, nothing can stop him now. He is powerful, and he has something to drive him, a desire that will outlast my legacy".

As he died Orochimaru saw something much more fearsome, more terrifying than the death god, something no other person, dead or alive would see again.

He felt his nerves freeze and his innards liquefy.

Itachi smiled.

"Lets go to hell together", the elder of the Uchiha brothers whispered to the Sannin who had sort immortality, as if he had seen into his very soul and knew his deepest fear.

Above the screams of the damned, one might have heard laughter.

Sasuke woke slowly, his body spent.

"Am I dead", he whispered, staring up at the cloudless sky.

"No", he was surprised to be answered, almost as much as when Sakura's face appeared above his own seconds later, "You're ok, we both are, you won".

She brushed some of his blood-matted hair out of his face, tears falling on his face from her shining green eyes.

"Crybaby", she smiled, his words were at odds with the expression on his usually brooding face, "That's one of the things that annoys me about you".

"Why did I ever like you?", she wondered aloud, laughing as he snorted, "Baka".

"You owe me you know", she caught his expression and hurried to explain, "When we fell, I had to anchor us to the wall, you were out cold. This isn't the first time either".

Sasuke seemed to be pondering something for a moment, before shrugging, "I suppose that's ok".

Before she could ask, his hand had lanced out, grabbing the back of her neck and drawing her into a brief but powerful kiss.

Sakura's face was like a miniature sunset when he released her.

"I, you, we…that…"

"Shut up", he said, watching her expression turn from shy to murderous with amusement. She was much cuter when she was angry he decided.

"Thank you", Sakura lowered her fist uncertainly seeing his smile, the only genuine expression she could ever recall seeing on his usually stoic face.

"So", she asked, tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear, "What now?".

By way of response Sasuke pulled he down next to him, wrapping his arms securely around her and sighing happily.

"This is just fine".

Sakura smiled, closing her eyes and hugging him closer to herself, luxuriating in the feel of his body against hers.

Neither of them noticed at the time, but the numbness that had pervade their lives until that point was gone.

The void was gone, filled by each other.

They would never be alone again.

* * *

---Author Notes---

Tada, all done, sorry about the mushy ending to an angst based story but…yeah.

There might be a small epilogue depending on the reviews I get.

There's a little button down here that needs some love.

Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell


	6. Epilogue: Crime and Punishment

Epilogue: Crime and Punishment

It was agonising, unbearable. Sasuke had been ready for his punishment, but not this.

It was unspeakable.

He closed his eyes to cut out the horror before him.

There was a whoosh of air and something wet landed on his sandaled foot.

One onyx eye opened reluctantly, casting its gaze down, fearful of what it would find.

The raven-haired boy trembled.

There was a partially used tissue covering most of his foot.

"Gomen sensei!", the boy the offending paper product belonged to, rushed forward from the group of ten year old shinobi wannabes, his face blushing up a storm as his peers sniggered at the unfortunate lad.

Sasuke momentarily considered leaving Konoha a second time, but Sakura had made it clear after his sentencing she wouldn't offer to go with him this time, no matter how the circumstances might have changed, she had responsibilities to her station now…as did he.

The trial had been a surprise and an outrage from the word go. He and Sakura had been apprehended the moment they returned and it had taken a lot of will power not to reduce the insolent fools who had tried to separate him from Sakura to dust with the power of the seal.

He had instead relied on a subtler method, if a death glare that threatens bladder integrity can be considered subtle.

The issue had resolved itself when Tsunade had given Sakura special permission to sit in on the proceedings.

Sasuke allowed himself the ghost of a smile, unaware of how it made his _students_ shiver.

As it turned out, that would be far from the last thing the fifth did to annoy the council during the course of his sentencing.

She had started by announcing without debate that he would not be executed for any crimes past or present. That declaration had left the elderly advisors to the Hokage sputtering angrily about laws and discipline, to which Tsunade had yawned and poignantly ignored them.

She had however sentenced him to something much worse in the young Uchiha's eyes. She had banded him from performing any high level jutsu for a probationary period, and had also signed him up as the instructor for the remedial students at the academy.

Sasuke Uchiha, one of Konoha's most talented and powerful ninja, instructing those one step from becoming dropouts.

It was infuriating.

Tsunade had calmly explained to him that his defection had been in part do to his arrogance, and as such, teaching those not blessed with raw talent or bloodlimits like Sharingan, would serve to repair some of his character flaws.

It had been Sakura's pleading luck that had finally got him to nod his head in consent, even after he had been threatened with a return of the original punishment.

Thus here he was, fighting a mild migraine after spending six hours teaching his pupils to throw straight. If he was lucky they might eventually move onto shruiken or kunai before the end of the month rather than the small stones they were currently using.

"Mmmm, Oni-san", he turned a glacial gaze on the child who had called out, Mai something-or-other. If he was going to teach them he didn't want them getting overly chummy with him, which would just hinder their progress.

Rather than cowering or apologising the little red haired girl blushed fiercely and began playing with her hair.

Sasuke sighed. Why was it that females, no matter the age, seemed immune to the glares and pointed glances, which struck fear into their male counterparts?

"Sasuke-kun, oh, gomen, I mean Uchiha-sensei", Sakura had been watching him and his class since her shift finished though she had only just revealed her presence.

She chuckled as he stared at her frostily over his shoulder, she knew he didn't like her encouraging the children by acting overly friendly toward him but they were just so cute the way they trailed after him, shouting _"Oni-san! Oni-san!"_.

"Oh, don't mind him", she said, squatting down in front of the nearest row of hopefuls and smiling reassuringly, "He may look mean, and have trouble expressing himself, but deep down he's a really nice person".

Sasuke smiled as he folded his arms, trying to seem disinterested.

His mother had once told him the same thing about his father.

"Is Onee-chan, Oni-san's bride", a voice called up from the back of the group.

Mai again.

"B-bride?", Sakura stuttered, blushing almost as much as the red haired girl had, making sure she didn't look at Sasuke despite how badly she wanted to see his reaction, until her face had returned to normal.

"No", Sasuke's simple statement made her breath catch and she almost demanded to know why he had answered so definitively right then and there.

"But I suppose there is still time", that brought back her blush and had the children chattering excitedly amongst themselves, all except little Mai who's friends seemed to be trying to comfort her.

Sakura stood as the students began bombarding her with questions, a shy smile on her face as she looked at Sasuke.

While the dark haired boy rounded them up with a single command and gave her his farewell with an almost flippant wave of the hand, she continued to smile.

Some things change, some things stay the same, but Sakura would always love him, be it as his girlfriend, or one day…

_Fin _

* * *

---Author Notes---

There we go, all done, hope you all enjoyed it despite the rather short nature of the piece. There may be a sequel, but if so it shall not be written by me. More info on that as I have it.

Feel free to check out my other work and comment, I'd especially recommend the Blademasters series.

Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell


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